Dreamscape
by Abarai Starsha
Summary: Was Ichigo's defeat of Aizen real or was it all a well crafted dream?  When presented undeniable evidence from both sides, who is he to believe? AU, OCC, Time line:  After Aizen's defeat.  Rating changed to M, sorry...small lemon...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: To those who have requested I write an IchiRuki – here's a short one for you. AU, OCC, time line: after Aizen's defeat. **

**Again, I tried for a one shot, but my ideas are refusing to shrink down that small. Anyway – not sure how long this will go. I really hope you like it. **

**To everyone else familiar with my work, I posted the final chapter of Life Love Loss and will be posting the first chapter of my next HitsuRuki story next week. **

**ALSO – I have been given the honor of adopting xXxMiserableLoveFairyxXx, "By Myself" so I'll be working on that as well. So, a lot in the works from me… I hope you enjoy…**

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><p>Dreamscape<p>

By: Abarai Starsha

Ichigo slowly regained consciousness as his memories came crashing back. Aizen, Tensa, his father… He slowly opened his eyes. He saw white. White sheets, white blanket, white walls. He was in a hospital. Not just any hospital, Ishida's hospital. He was in the world of the living. He checked himself over and sat up. Apparently he was there long enough for his wounds to have healed.

"Just how long have I been here?" He asked.

"Quite a while," said a nurse with long orange hair and big grey eyes as she came in. "It's good to see you awake. You know, you had us really worried for a while." She said as she smiled warmly at him.

"Inoue," Ichigo said. He was confused as to why she was in a nurse's outfit.

"You remember my name?" She asked a bit shocked.

"Of course I do." He replied.

"I'll have to inform the doctor then, he will be so pleased!" She said, smiling as she brought her hands together in front of her face.

"Inoue, you said 'quite a while'. How long have I been unconscious?"

Her eyes darkened a bit, "You've been unconscious for almost three months."

"I see," he said as he pushed the button to raise his bed so he could lay back and still sit up. His back muscles bothered him. "How are the others?"

"Others?"

"Yeah, Ishida, Chad, Tatsuki…," he said as he began to get frustrated.

"They're all fine."

"Do you know if everyone in Soul Society is ok?"

"I'm sorry, where?"

"In Soul Society…You know, Rukia, Renji, Byakuya, old man Yamamoto?"

A look of confusion crossed her face as Ichigo's heart started to pound.

"I'm afraid I don't know who or where you're talking about. There's no Soul Society around here. Is it a club or something?"

"Inoue, don't you remember our friends on the other side?"

"Other side?" She asked, the confusion was replaced with concern.

"Rukia, Renji, they're Shinigami."

Her eyes grew wide for a minute, and then she smiled. Then she started to laugh.

"Oh! Oh! You got me!" she managed between fits of laughter, "Kurosaki-san, you got me! Shinigami? Really? I'll go tell Ishida-sensei you're awake." She said as she laughed her way out of the door leaving a very confused Ichigo.

He sat back and closed his eyes. He remembered his fight with Aizen. He remembered Kisuke right after it was all over. Then his friends as they ran towards him. Voices, some clear, some not clear. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he knew they were talking about him. He sighed out of frustration. He opened his eyes. _Kurosaki-san? What happened to –kun?_

"What the hell? Did they erase everyone's memory?" He asked out loud.

"And who would 'they' be?" Ishida asked as he walked into the room pushing his glasses up on his nose. He was dressed in a white outfit, similar to his Quincy garb minus the cape.

"The Shinigami, I think they erased Inoue's memory as she doesn't seem to remember them. You do, don't you? I mean, considering your family history and all."

"What does my family have to do with it?" He asked as he moved closer to the bed. He picked up a chart that was attached to the foot of the bed and quickly scanned the top page.

"You know, being a Quincy and having a long standing hatred for Shinigami."

"I'm sorry, but did you say Quincy?"

"Yes."

"What is a Quincy, exactly?" He asked as he pulled out a steno notebook from his jacket pocket. He flipped through a few pages and started writing.

"Ishida? What's going on?"

"I thought you were going to tell me." He pushed up his glasses and sat down. He crossed his legs as if preparing himself for a long conversation.

It had to be the memory modifier.

"Ishida, do you know who Rukia is?" Ichigo asked, trying a different approach.

"No, should I?" He asked, "Is she one of these Quincy people?"

"Never mind," he said as he slouched down in the bed. What was going on?

"Kurosaki-san, do you remember the day you got here?" Ishida asked.

"No."

"What is the last thing you remember?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Ishida," he said. Then he a thought occurred to him, "Urohara Kisuke, do you know him?"

"Of course I do, he's-"

"I need to see him!" Ichigo exclaimed, fire in his eyes as he about jumped off the bed.

"I'm not sure that that's possible today, but we'll see about tomorrow, ok?" Ishida responded in the same easy, quiet tone he's been using since he entered.

"Why can't I see him now?" He had to know everyone was ok. He had to know _she _was ok.

"Because he's not available now. He's a very busy man. Like I said, I will put the request in and you can see him possibly tomorrow. Now, how about my question? What is the last thing you remember?"

If Soul Society blanked out everyone's memory then there's no point in telling him the last thing I remember is defeating Aizen. He won't know who he is either. Ichigo sighed.

"I don't know."

"Nothing about how you came to be here?"

"I was hurt, wasn't I? This is a hospital."

"This isn't a normal hospital, Kurosaki-san."

"What do you mean?"

"During our last conversation before you blacked out, you were telling me about Aizen-sama and how he had plans to drive out the dead souls and take over heaven. Do you remember that conversation?"

"What about it?" Ichigo said, playing along trying to gain information.

"You blacked out shortly after when Aizen-sama came in for a floor visit."

"Please, what the hell is going on? If this isn't a hospital, where am I?" He said as his impatience grew.

"Kurosaki-san, this is a mental hospital."

"A mental hospital?" He repeated slowly. "How?"

"It started out slowly. After your mother's death you told your father that you could see ghosts. A few years later you were talking to them. At first he thought it was a coping mechanism. A way for you to get over her death, but as the years went on, you were getting worse. He brought you here three years ago when you tried to stab your sister with a kitchen knife. You kept insisting she was being attacked by a…" he paused to check his notes, "A Hollow, which according to you is a bad spirit.

"As we delved into your mind the worse things became. You started placing several people you knew into a story line your mind had to play out. Aizen-sama is the director of the mental hospital; so naturally, he would be the bad guy in your minds play. His assistant, Ichimaru-sama only added to the characters in your mind. Your night nurse, Orihime Inoue was the damsel in distress you had to rescue. I was hoping that since you blacked out that your mind would be able to end the story and reset itself and you would return to normal, free from these delusions."

"Delusions?" He asked, shocked. "You mean to tell me it was all a dream?"

"Not necessarily a dream, as you believed in what you were seeing. It was more like a living fantasy. One that gripped your mind so tight everything and everyone incorporated itself into it."

Ichigo was shocked. He shook his head. Rukia was only a dream? His hollow…a dream? Old man Zangetsu, Renji and the rest in Soul Society…only a dream?

"I'm going to assume the reason you want to talk to Urahara Kisuke is because you want him to confirm what I've told you." He checked his notes again, "Apparently in your fantasy, he played the part of an ex-captain, one who was able to travel between the living and the dead." Ishida pushed up his glasses and looked at Ichigo. He drew up the corner of his mouth, "Urahara Kisuke is your physical therapist."

"No…" Ichigo whispered.

"Your best friend Chad is the activities director here."

"No…" Ichigo said louder.

"Tatsuki is your day nurse."

"Stop this!" Ichigo said as he places his hands over his ears.

"I understand that this is quite a shock. It will take some time for you to get used to your surroundings again, but I believe we have made a major break though here." He said as he stood up. He placed his notebook back in his jacket pocket and made a note on Ichigo's chart at the foot of his bed. "I'm giving the order for Chad to set you up with some outdoor time. I think some fresh air will help you sort through your memories." Ishida said as he opened the door and left.

Ichigo lay back on his bed. His hand covered his eyes. He couldn't believe it. Maybe he didn't defeat Aizen and this was one big illusion. Maybe Soul Society did a massive mind wipe. Maybe he was just crazy. He sighed at the last thought.

A knock at the door broke his thoughts as he saw Chad and Tatsuki enter with a wheel chair.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-san! I am so glad to see that you're awake now!" Tatsuki said as she set up the wheel chair beside his bed.

"We weren't sure when you would wake up. How are you feeling?" Chad asked him.

Ichigo looked from one to the other. His mind was still skeptical.

"I'm…fine."

"Are you ready for a little sunshine?" Tatsuki asked as she removed some of the wires and tubes that were attached to various parts of his body. "Keep breathing, this will be over soon," she said as she gently pulled out the catheter.

"Did you want to try to stand on your own or do you want some help?"

Ichigo let out the breath he was holding through the pain. "I'll do it on my own." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly let them drop to the cold hard tiled floor beneath him. Ichigo took a deep breath and stood up.

His legs were a bit shaky due to the inactivity but he managed to take a few steps before sitting down in the chair. Chad wheeled him out while Tatsuki stayed behind to clean up his room.

"This is going to sound strange, Chad, but we didn't go to high school together, did we?"

The big man smiled. "Not unless you were in New Mexico in the United States a few years back."

Ichigo dropped his head, "How did you end up in Japan?" He asked quietly.

"My Grandfather got a job out here. I met a woman, fell in love and decided to stay."

"What's her name?"

"Neliel. You've met her once when you first got here."

Ichigo slapped his forehead. Nel, Chad and Nel were married. He shook his head.

"Here we are, Kurosaki-san," Chad said as he opened a set of double doors. A path led out to a beautiful garden. Ichigo was again shocked. It was Byakuya's garden. He looked further out and saw the entire place was surrounded by a 20 foot metal wall. Ichigo looked at Chad questioningly. "It's to keep you guys safe. We've had many break ins and outs before we built it."

Ichigo nodded.

Chad's phone rang. He set the brake on the wheel chair and excused himself as he walked away. Ichigo looked around the garden. His mind was slowly wrapping around the idea that he made everything up. Defense mechanism against his mother's death, Ishida said. It sounded plausible. She had died protecting him when it was he who so desperately needed to protect her. Life without her was unbearable. The way his sisters looked at him. The way his dad treated him. They blamed him for her death as much as he blamed himself. He shook his head and looked over at the koi pond.

Two fish one black, one white swam together in perfect harmony.

"Ichigo!" He heard a fierce whisper coming from the behind the Sakura tree. He looked up in time to see someone with raven hair peek out.

"Ru-Rukia!" Ichigo said as he attempted to stand.

"Ichigo! I'm so glad you're ok!" She said as tears formed in her eyes. She walked over to him so he would not have to stand and knelt in front of him. She took his hands in hers. "It's been so long, I thought…I thought…"

"Rukia, I don't understand what's going on! I had this crazy dream and then –"

"No! No! It's not a dream, it wasn't a dream! Aizen, it's all his doing. He-"

"Hey! You're not supposed to be out of your room!" Chad said as he ran over to the two. Rukia's eyes grew wide.

"No! No! Don't make me go back! Ichigo! Help me! I can't go back there!" She screamed as she backed away. Chad just smiled at her as he picked her up kicking and screaming. A very confused Ichigo stood up and made his way towards the struggling woman.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Ichigo."

Ichigo stopped moving and turned around.

"Dad?"

He smiled a sad smile and watched as Chad quickly overcame the small woman.

"Ichigo!" Chad put his hand over her mouth.

"Come on now, Kuchiki-san. You know you're not allowed out here. You're privileges were taken away for trying to escape last week."

"I told you! I needed to find Ichigo! You bastards wouldn't let me see him!" She screamed through his hand.

"Hey! Maybe you should – "

"Ichigo," his father said again as he put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. He firmly pressed down, forcing Ichigo to sit back.

"Rukia…" he said. "No! What the hell is going on? Chad, put her down!" He said as he tossed his father's hand aside and stood up.

"Ichigo! Rukia is a patient here, just like you. She's mentally unstable and is one of the causes of your own mental breakdown."

"What?"

"No! It's them!" Rukia pleaded.

"I'm sorry son," his father said. Just as Ichigo made his move towards Rukia, Isshin plunged a needle into the side of his son's neck and caught him as he quickly passed out.

"What did you do to him? What did you do?" Rukia yelled as she continued to struggle. She bit, she clawed, she kicked but she was no match for Chad's strength.

Isshin looked at Rukia and gave her another sad smile. He turned to Chad, "Take care of her. I'm sure Aizen-sama would like to know she's been found."

"No! NO!" she yelled as she fought more. Chad took two of his fingers and pinched the side of her neck. Rukia fell limp in his arms. He picked her up and looked at Isshin. He gave him a nod before leaving.

"That was close, son." Isshin said as he wheeled his son back to his room.

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><p>Hours later Ichigo again, woke up.<p>

"Rukia!" He said as he sat up. He pushed aside the blankets and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Hold on there a minute!" Isshin said as he stood up from the chair beside the bed and pushed Ichigo back down.

"But Rukia! Chad was…"

"I know what Chad was doing. Ichigo, you need to remember, this isn't your fantasy anymore. Rukia is a mental patient here that you've met before. Since you've met her, it's only natural that she was a part of your fantasy."

"But…"

"Let it go, Ichigo. Now, your sisters send you their love. They were very happy to get the call this morning that you woke up."

"That's why you're here?"

"Yes. I work out of the clinic downstairs now so I could be closer to you."

Ichigo looked at his father.

"Son, I know you think we blame you and before when I've tried to talk to you, you would shut me out. But believe me; no one blames you but you."

"Dad…"

Isshin sat down in the chair beside the bed and ran his hands through his hair. Ichigo noticed how some of it was starting to turn grey, the wrinkles on his face were more defined.

"Your sisters and I love you, very much, Ichigo. When Ishida-sensei called this morning and told me of your progress since you've woken up, we've all started to hope that we would be able to bring you home again. We all miss you."

"I don't understand, it all seemed so real. Even Rukia… Ishida said he didn't know Rukia."

"Rukia isn't his patient so I'm not surprised. This is a pretty big institution. You two were never meant to meet."

"What?"

"There are rules about patient interaction. Usually, if the doctor believes interaction would be beneficial to the patient, he will usually set up the meeting with another one of his patients. The doctors usually never mingle their patients. In the case of Rukia Kuchiki, she's been trying to escape this place since she was place here almost five years ago."

"She's been here for five years?"

"Yes. The night we brought you here she escaped her wing. While I was filling out the paperwork she snuck into the holding room and dragged you out with her. She filled your head with Shinigami talk and bad mouthed the owner of the facility, Sosuke Aizen to the point you believed her fantasy. It became so real to you; you took her delusions on as your own."

Ichigo's mouth hung open.

"What wing is she in?"

"She's a danger to herself and others around her. She's in the solitary wing."

"Her family?"

"She has only a brother, who works here as a gardener."

_So in a way, the gardens do belong to her brother, how ironic, _Ichigo thought.

"How is she a danger?"

"Ichigo, I really don't think that talking about her will-"

"Please…I need to know."

His father sighed and sat back in the chair. "After her sister died, she flipped out and went on a killing spree. When she was caught and brought in for questioning she was very incoherent. The most they could get out of her was that she was slaying hollows or bad spirits that were out to get her. When she learned she killed her lifelong friend in the process of her spree, she tried to kill herself. She was deemed mentally unstable and was locked up here."

"Her friend…was his name Kaien?"

"How did you know?"

"How long was I gone with her?"

"Only a few hours, why?"

"I feel like I know so much about her, but…I guess I learned what she told me and just made up the rest."

"The rest?"

"Her brother's name is Byakuya and is a rich noble. He married Rukia's sister and after she died he found Rukia and adopted her."

Isshin had a look of shock run across his face. "Wow that is pretty incredible."

"What?"

"What you just said. It's true except for the noble part. Byakuya Kuchiki is the hospitals gardener and is far from being rich." Isshin stood up. "I suppose you learned more than you thought you did in those few hours."

"I suppose so."

"Well, you rest now. There still a lot we need to talk about and I'm sure your therapist will be back." He made his way towards the door and turned, "It's good to have you back, son."

Their eyes met.

"Thanks, dad."

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><p>The days turned into weeks. Little by little Ichigo came to accept the fact that everything that happened from the moment he met Rukia was a delusion. While there were a few details that would nag at him every now and then, he did his best to push them aside. He wanted to get better, he wanted to leave the hospital and get back to his life.<p>

"Kurosaki-san, here are your meds for the evening," Inoue said as she walked in to his room. She was carrying a tray with two cups, one with water and a smaller one with the medication. There was also a plate with a cookie. She smiled at him, "I was able to steal you an extra dessert tonight."

He smiled at her from his bed. "Thank you, Inoue." As she blushed, he realized his mistake. "I mean, Inoue-san. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Kurosaki-san. I'm flattered that I was a part of your fantasies and the familiarity doesn't bother me at all. You can even call me Orihime…if you'd like." She finished with a blush.

"Then you should call me Ichigo," he said, returning the smile.

Just then the lights went out and an alarm buzz sounded. The emergency generator kicked in and the room was bathed in red light.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san, I need to go and help the others!" Inoue said as she put the tray down on his night stand by his bed.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm not sure. The last time this happened a patient from another wing was trying to escape. I'm sorry; I need to go help the others lock everything down," she said as she backed out of the room. She shut the door, but did not lock it.

Ichigo frowned. _A patient from another wing, eh? I wonder if it could be that Rukia girl again._

Rukia… The woman he knew a lot about yet it seemed like he knew nothing. He shook his head and got out of bed. He stood in front of his door, his hand on the handle. He debated for a few minutes until he heard a scream…

"Inoue!"


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: HitsuRuki Rules! Just saying…as I continue this IchiRuki…hehehe…**

**Thank you to everyone out there who already put this on their favorites and alert list! Thank you also to the wonderful reviews To answer your question, I grew up alone and had to rely on my imagination for entertainment. I have tons of ideas for stories, just not a ton of time. Anyway – thank you!**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Ichigo ran out of the room only to find the hall way empty. He waited a few seconds before making up his mind and turned left out of his room towards the main reception area.

He was shocked to find it empty as well. The elevators were out of order and the door to the stairs was open, slightly swinging as if beckoning him to enter.

"Fuck it," Ichigo said and took the stairs. He reached the main floor and noticed the front door was padlocked shut. He tried to look through the glass only to find someone had erected a metal door right outside in front of the main doors. It was similar to the fence in the garden.

The garden.

Ichigo made his way towards the opposite end of the room to the back door. He found it unlocked. Before he could touch the door, he felt someone hit the back of his head. He thought he saw dark hair before his vision faded and fell to the floor.

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><p>"AAAK! What the HELL?" Ichigo screamed as he woke up to cold water being splashed across his face.<p>

"Shut up you idiot! They'll hear us and everything I've done would have been for nothing!"

Ichigo sat up and looked at his surroundings. The far wall was lined with various machines that he assumed were the boiler and furnace for the hospital. He was in a room in the basement. Instead of the harsh red light, only one bare light bulb was lit. It hung from the ceiling over his head and seemed out of place.

Another wall was lined with cots and bedding. A huge layer of dust suggested they've long been forgotten. On the third wall was a small cot Ichigo was currently lying on and a small hot plate. There were various cans of food and a can opener that sat on an old table. In front of the table was a small woman who had fire in her violet eyes and an empty cup in her hands.

"Rukia…"

She smiled at him. "I was hoping you wouldn't forget me."

"How could I?" He asked. She put her hand on his face and frowned as he flinched at her touch. Her eyes narrowed. "Why did you bring me here? Are you going to fill me head with more of your craziness?"

"What did they tell you?" She asked anger in her voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about. It's you that escaped, isn't it? It's you they're after now?" He demanded as he stood up. Her eyes got big.

"Ichigo…"

"No, you have no right to say my name. I don't know you and I'm not staying down here." Ichigo walked towards the doorway which led to the main area of the basement.

"Aizen has gotten to you, I see," she said. Ichigo didn't miss the note of despair her tone had. He stopped and turned.

"I haven't even seen Aizen, Kuchiki-san." She winced at his formality.

"Ichigo, let me explain…"

"No. I already know. When your sister died you went on a killing spree to include your childhood friend, Kaien; soon after you were put in here. Your brother, he's the gardener around here. You escaped the night I was brought here. You kidnapped me and filled my vulnerable head with all these notions about Shinigami and Hollows. You made it so my mind took over these delusions and I had to play them out. It caused so much trauma that I fell unconscious and lost three months of my life. What is there left to explain?" His voice was cold. He had to get away from her. Even as memories from his dream came back to the front of his mind, he couldn't listen to her.

Rukia looked at him through her big violet eyes. Eyes Ichigo remembered vividly from his dream. This was Rukia. The same Rukia he went through hell to save. She was the same Rukia who had always stood by him. She was his best friend, she was someone who he was falling…_NO!_

"So that's it then," she said sadly, "You believe them instead of everything I told you last time."

"I told you. You're the crazy one! Everything you filled my head with was all a delusion!"

"THIS is the delusion, Ichigo!"

"No! No, I'm not going to get caught up in whatever it is you're trying to do! I've come a long way and my sisters are waiting for me to get out of here," he said as he moved towards the door again.

"Do you really think they're going to let you go, Ichigo?" she said with a laugh.

"They said since I'm no longer…"

"When did your mind become so weak?" she asked as she walked over to him, "Is that all there is to your resolve?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what happened. You were made to believe you defeated Aizen and then woke up in a mental institution. You were made to believe that it was all a dream. That we were a dream." She closed the distance and touched his hand. He felt a slight electric shock run through his hand up to his shoulder. He drew in his breath sharply.

"No. I wasn't made to believe anything. That's how it is," he said but he didn't make any motions to move his hand.

"I'm not a dream, Ichigo."

"Stop this," he said finally as he pulled his hand away. "You're nothing more than an insane patient!"

"Insane? I'M the one insane?" She stepped back. A look of sadness and hurt crossed her delicate face. Ichigo felt a pang of guilt for hurting her.

"How did you get out of your room? You said something about everything you have done to get here. What did you do?"

"Don't worry about that," she said and dismissed his questions, "The important thing is that we're together. Do you remember your 'dream'? Do you remember our mission to save Inoue? Do you remember feeling the drop in my reiatsu during my fight with the Espada?"

"Kuchiki-san…"

Rukia's eyes narrowed at her name.

"You don't believe me? Then how did I get this?" She asked as she moved her shirt, revealing three fresh scars in a straight line. Ichigo gasped as he remembered Renji telling him how the 9th Arrancar almost killed her. He closed his eyes as he remembered his dream. How he felt when he knew something was wrong. How he needed to make sure Rukia was ok. How he was goaded into fighting by Ulquiorra.

Ichigo reached out and touched her skin.

"Rukia…" he whispered.

"Ichigo, they're real. I'm not insane. They're trying to make you believe I am." She pulled her shirt back down and watched him as he put his hands on his head.

"I haven't done what they say I have. You know what happened with Kaien-dono. You know my history growing up with Renji. You know everything about me. You've saved my life many times over. I wouldn't be here if it were not for you."

"I don't…know…I can't…" He shook his head.

"Ichigo, they're trying to break the bond we have. If they break it, they can break you. If they break you, they've as good as won. We can't let that happen. You know what that would mean for your world and mine.

"I…I know, Rukia. This is just so confusing. If Aizen were out to just kill me, why hasn't he done it?"

"Killing you isn't enough. It would only delay the inevitable as you would just come back. He wants to destroy you. He wants to destroy everything about you: your friends, your family, your mind…"

"But why have I not seen him yet? What makes you so sure it wasn't a dream?"

"When we were in the gardens, do you remember the tall metal wall? What was the lame excuse they gave you as to why it was erected?"

"To prevent intruders and escapes."

"And to prevent you from seeing what's truly outside."

"What about you? How did you end up in the same illusion as me?"

"I'm not sure. I remember you leaving with Unohana-taicho to face Aizen. Not long after, Kurotsuchi –taicho showed up with a way to get us all back. We went through the gate and that's the last I remember before waking up here. I managed to slip out of my room the day I first found you."

"What about you? What are they doing to you?"

Rukia dropped her eyes and turned away. "That's not important," she whispered. "What's important is that you find Aizen and break free from his grasp."

Ichigo knew she was hiding something and he didn't like it. He reached out and held her arm. He guided her closer to him and as her hand came up, the sleeve of her shirt slid down. Ichigo gasped. Her normally creamy pale skin was covered in dark bruises.

"Rukia," he whispered. She couldn't look at him. She closed the gap and buried her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her thin frame. Was she this thin in his dreams? He didn't think so. He pulled her close and held her. It was almost like holding air. "I'll get you out of here."

"Ichigo," she said as she buried her face further making it harder to hear, "Don't worry about me, you just need to get out of here and defeat Aizen."

"If he's as bad as you say he is, why are my friends and father working for him?"

"They're not who you think," she said as she stepped back. "That's not your father, that's not Chad who caught me. That's all part of Aizen's illusion."

"But they…"

She shook her head.

"Down here!" A voice called from the other side of the basement. Rukia's eyes grew wide in panic as she pushed Ichigo over to the back wall. She pulled a stack of linens away from the wall which revealed a hidden door.

"Go! Get back to your room! If they find you here, with me, we'll lose our advantage."

"Rukia, I'm not going to just leave you behind!"

"Ichigo! Do I need to remind you what's at stake here?"

He opened his mouth to protest as she shoved him through the door and closed it behind him. Ichigo tried to open the door only to realize there was no handle. There was no way he could get it open from his side.

"Damn it, Rukia…" he whispered. He could hear shuffling sounds on the other side. It was probably Rukia stacking the linens to cover the door. But then, there was another voice.

"Hey! You there! I found her!" A voice said.

"When are you going to learn that you may run, but there's no where here you can hide from me?" Another voice said. Ichigo pressed his ear to the door. That voice was so familiar. "Did you find him?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well who I am talking about," the voice said. It was followed by a crack as Rukia cried out.

"If I found him, do you really think I would be here?" She managed to retort.

"I suppose not," he said. There were some other muffled noises. "Take her to the lab. Maybe a few days there will refresh her memories as to why she shouldn't be out roaming the halls."

"No! Let me go!" Ichigo could hear her voice through the door along with another crack sound. Then she was quiet. He felt something warm and wet drip from his hands. He looked down and realized he had clenched them hard enough to break the skin. He closed his eyes and swore he would get her out of here before he made his way up the stair well.

When he reached his floor, he noticed the door had a handle. He carefully turned it and pushed on the door. He was surprised to find it opened up to the back of the supply closet. He let himself through and as the door shut he noticed there was no handle from the closet side. He stacked some items up against the door to avoid suspicion before he cracked open the supply door. No one was around.

He stepped though the door and made his way to the reception area. Behind the desk and on the floor, he found Inoue.

"Inoue!" He called out as he rushed to her side. He picked her up as she regained consciousness.

"Kurosaki-san! Wh-what are you doing out here?"

"You're not supposed to be out of your room," Chad said as he came up behind them. Ichigo cleared his throat.

"I was in my room when the lights went out. Inoue-san left to help do whatever it is you guys do. A few minutes later I heard her scream. I didn't know what happened so I came to make sure she was alright."

"You didn't see anyone else? Talk to anyone else?"

"No. I told you, I heard her scream and I came to see if she was ok." Chad seemed to buy his story as he gave him a nod. He helped Inoue up and asked her what happened.

"I-I'm not sure. I was giving Kurosaki-san his meds for the night and the alarms went off. I came out here to start the lock down procedures and I think I tripped because I remember falling and the next thing I knew, I was in Kurosaki-san's arms." She finished, blushing.

Her confirmation seemed good enough for Chad as he turned to Ichigo.

"Get back to your room and stay there. From now on, when you hear the alarms, you are not to come out. I don't care what you hear outside your door. Do you understand?"

Ichigo nodded and went back to his room. He shut his door and sat on his bed. His meds and his cookie were still sitting on his night stand. His mind drifted back to the basement. He wondered what Rukia's fate was. Lab? There was a lab here? Why would a mental hospital need an on-site lab? Was that normal? He didn't think so. He felt sick leaving her. He shook his head. She was a patient and a dangerous one. Wasn't she? He remembered how soft her skin was. How she felt in his arms. She certainly didn't look like she was insane.

He sighed and looked at his nightstand. He felt a headache come on so he took his pills and settled back in bed. If he was trapped in one of Aizen's illusions, when the hell did it happen? All of the delusions/ memories he had led up to Aizen's defeat. He closed his eyes; his head hurt thinking about it.

Rukia…

There was something she said. The people he knew were not who he thought they were. If that were the case, than who was parading around as his father? Why go through all this trouble. Wasn't it enough to just kill him and make the key? He shook his head. It just didn't make sense. He opened his eyes and looked at his chart hanging from the foot of his bed. Or maybe there was nothing going on after all and they were both crazy. He laughed at that.

He tried to close his eyes again but couldn't get her out of his head. He hoped she was ok. He hoped that whoever ran the lab wouldn't be there until tomorrow. He had to get her out of there. Crazy or not, someone was hurting her.

"I will save you…Rukia…" Ichigo said as the pills took over and he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Someone without a name put in the comments: The summary puts the time line after Ichigo defeats Aizen… Yes. Did you think that was an error? Or are you confused because Rukia is telling Ichigo Aizen is not defeated? Remember – true story line, Ichigo defeats Aizen, chats with Kisuke, sees his friends and then passes out. My AU story kicks in when he wakes up… Does that help?**

**Thank you again for your wonderful reviews! You guys are awesome! **

**And I don't think I put in a disclaimer… so – I don't own the characters, Kubo does. I just play with them a bit…**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

Ichigo woke the next morning to his day nurse, Tatsuki, checking his vitals. Her hands were cold but she was ready with a smile as he opened his eyes.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-san. How did you sleep?"

"Just fine, why?"

"No reason. I heard there was a bit of excitement here last night."

"Yeah, there was an alarm. No one ever told me what that was all about though. I heard a scream, found my door open and went to see what it was. In the reception room, I found Inoue-san on the floor." He said as he repeated the events of last night carefully mirroring the story Chad and Inoue already knew.

Tatsuki frowned. "So you didn't see who it was that broke out?"

"No. That's what the alarm was for? The only one I saw last night before Chad got there was Inoue-san. Why? Who broke out? Did they get out of the facility?"

Tatsuki shook her head.

"No, patients do not escape. The punishment alone for leaving your room without authorization is pretty big."

"But we're here, what are they going to do, confine us here longer?" Ichigo laughed while watching Tatsuki. Her face was blank.

"They were caught last night."

"Who?"

"The one who escaped her room. She was caught and she was punished."

Ichigo's mouth went dry.

"What happened to her?"

Tatsuki smiled, "I don't know. Just be sure _you_ are careful and the next time the alarms go off, you stay in your room. Ok?"

"Sure," he said as he sat up.

Working from the small push cart she brought into the room with her, Tatsuki replaced his med cup with a new one and gave him a pitcher of water for him to have for the day. She also set up his breakfast, a plate of eggs and toast.

"Ishida-sensei will be here sometime this afternoon for your scheduled time."

"What am I supposed to do between now and then?"

"I can get someone to take you to the gardens again, if you want."

Ichigo thought, if he could get a better scope of what this place looks like… "Yeah, I would like that considering my last trip was cut short."

She gave a quick nod before pushing her cart out of his room.

Ichigo stared at his breakfast. _She was caught and she was punished._ His stomach turned. He tried to think about getting out of there, tried to think about being with his sisters and friends again, tried to think about going back to a normal life, but the more he tried to avoid it, the more his mind kept returning to it.

Rukia.

The more he thought about it, the more he doubted Rukia's outlandish story. If it were true, why couldn't he talk to his hollow or the old man? If it were true, why couldn't she use kido to get away from those men? He believed that she believed in her own story, her own illusions, but that's all they were.

He looked up as his father came in. _They're not who you think._ He shook his head.

"Hey Dad," Ichigo started.

"Good morning, Ichigo. I heard last night was a bit adventurous for you."

"Not really. I was concerned that Inoue-san had hurt herself. Other than that, everyone has been telling me to stay in my room."

"Very good advice."

"Dad?"

"What is it?"

"How much longer do I have to be here?" Ichigo looked for any change in his father's expression and silently sighed when he didn't see anything.

"As long as it takes for you to get well."

"I am well. I'm ready to go home with you and the girls, start living my life again." He said in earnest. His father smiled.

"Yes, you've made a lot of progress, but… So you're really done with all this Shinigami stuff?"

"Dad, it was a dream. It wasn't real. I know that now. Mom's death put a huge strain on us all, yeah, but I took all the blame. I felt it was my fault she died and that everyone else blamed me too. I should have been able to protect her."

"Son, you were little at the time. Your sisters and I didn't know what to do to comfort you. You shut us all out."

"I'm sorry, dad."

"Me too, son. Me too." Isshin moved closer to the bed and proceeded to give his son a hug.

"I'm ready to go home."

"We'll have to see what your therapist says. It's not like I can just sign you out."

"Why not? That's how you got me here."

"Because you were a danger to your sister they have to be sure. I have to be sure that you're not going to pull something like that ever again."

"Fine," Ichigo said with resignation. "Can I at least get a tour of this place? This room is really boring."

Ichigo didn't miss the look that passed over his father's features…panic?...fear?

"Sure, just let me clear up my schedule. I'll be back in a few minutes." He said as he left. Ichigo looked at the door. _They're not who you think. _Her words whispered through his mind.

"Stop it," he whispered. He flopped down on the bed and about dozed off when his father returned.

"Ready?"

Ichigo jumped up and put his slippers on.

* * *

><p>The tour was pretty basic; he saw the reception area, the elevators, the stairs, and the other rooms. He was taken downstairs and was shown the clinic his dad operated out of along with the cafeteria. There were some vending machines tables and chairs, but one thing was missing the entire tour. Other people. Weather it was doctors, nurses or patients themselves, no one was around. It was a bit creepy.<p>

"Um, dad?"

"Yes?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Oh, there's a staff meeting in the other wing. I believe they're going over new procedures to prevent last night's happenings from happening again."

"Can we go over there?"

"Where?"

"To the other wing?"

"No, I don't think that's such a good idea. Not with the meeting."

"But you said you would show me around."

"Yeah, to places around here. Really, Ichigo, the other wing looks exactly like this one except in place of my clinic there are the executive offices and in place of the cafeteria is the lab."

Ichigo looked sharply at his father, "The what?"

"The x-ray room and mini lab we have here, it's nothing special. We're just able to run many tests here instead of having to ship out specimens and waiting for another facility to come back with the results."

"Ah." Ichigo said. He dropped the subject. "So, how do I get to the gardens from here?" Relief was obvious on Isshin's face as he took his son out to the courtyard gardens.

* * *

><p>The next few days happened quickly as Ichigo made note of the layout of his side of the building. He was hoping it was identical to the other side minus the few changes his father mentioned.<p>

His therapy went well as he was giving all the right answers. He was allowed access to the cafeteria to meet with his dad for lunch or dinner and he could go to the gardens during the daylight hours.

Another thing he was working on was also falling into place.

"Ah, I was hoping I would see you tonight. I didn't eat dinner because I was hoping I could take it out in the garden and share it with you, Inoue."

Inoue blushed a bright red and nodded. "I-I would like that, Ichigo-san."

Ichigo packed up his dinner and they set out to the gardens. The sun was setting, not that they could see it with the huge metal wall, but because of the orange and violet hues the garden was bathed in. He set the things down by the koi pond.

"Oh I didn't bring anything to drink. No matter, I'll just go get some out of the vending machine." He said as he headed towards the direction of the other wing.

"Kuro-Ichigo-san, where are you going?"

"To get us some drinks, it's ok, my dad gave me a tour of this place last week so I know where the vending machines are."

"I should go with you…" she said nervously debating.

"It's ok, I got it." He said with a smile. She smiled back and sat back down.

"Ok, just hurry!"

_That was easier than I thought it would be…Now, I just hope I can find her._ As he entered the wing he did find that it was set up like the other side as his father said. His first stop was the lab. Unlike on his half of the building, this side had more people in white suits roaming around. Doctors no doubt, his mind told him. He slipped down the hallway that led to the lab. The doors each had a diamond shape window. Ichigo peered inside.

The room was dark. He could make out a cot and a rolling instrument table nearby. There was an overhead lamp and various computers along the far wall. He glanced down and swallowed hard. Blood covered the floor. Ichigo backed away and retraced his steps back to the main hallway.

He closed his eyes tight, "Rukia," he whispered.

He slipped into the stairwell and went to the third floor. He carefully opened the door. There was only one person at the reception desk. She reminded him Matsumoto. Big bust, long blond hair, tight fitting uniform. Ichigo smiled. Just like the Matsumoto he knew, this one was asleep. He stepped into the main area and carefully held the door so it closed quietly.

He scanned the hallways and found they were clear. He carefully checked each room as he went down. Room after room was empty. He wondered if this entire floor was deserted but he caught a glimpse of black hair in the last room. His heart jumped to his chest. Why was he even here? Why did he risk whatever punishment just to check on her?

He carefully opened the door. The only one in the room was on the bed. Ichigo quickly closed and locked the door. The room was identical to the one he was in; bed, nightstand, rolling tray and a chair beside the bed. No windows, no bathroom.

Ichigo crept silently to the bed side and gasped. He knew why.

"God, Rukia! What did they do to you?"

Rukia's eyes were closed, her hair fanned out over the pillow. What was once pale white skin was now completely covered in scratches and bruises. Her left arm was in a cast.

"Rukia…" Ichigo whispered. He gently took her right hand in his. She was warm. "Why did they do this to you?"

She didn't answer, she just laid there steady breathing. Ichigo's mind began racing. He had to get her out of here. But how? He could ask his dad. _They're not who you think. _Ok, ok, he won't ask his dad… He obviously couldn't go anywhere with her in the condition she was in. Thankfully that would leave him with more time to plan.

He looked at her again. Deep in his heart was an emotion he rarely showed since his mother died. Somehow, through all the illusions he knew deep within he had a strong connection to her. It was impossible, his rational mind tried to argue. He's met her a total of three times, there was no way he could have any kind of feelings for her, but he did.

He brought his hand up and moved her stubborn bang away and gently caressed the side of her face. Her eyes fluttered. Ichigo drew in his breath, waiting for her to wake up. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She brought her good hand up and placed it on his.

"Ichi-go…you've found me."

"Rukia! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry they did this to you. I'm sorry I couldn't…"

"Shhh! It's ok."

"I will get you out of here, I just need a little more time."

She tried to smile through the pain. It came out more like a grimace, "It's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon, Ichi-go." She breathed.

"Hold on, ok? I promise, Rukia!" He reluctantly removed his hand as her eyes fell closed again.

"Ichi-go?" her voice was reduced to a whisper.

"I'm here," he said as he leaned down to hear her.

"Be careful. I don't think I…"

"You don't think what?" he asked, but she had already slipped back into oblivion. Ichigo closed his eyes and placed his lips on her forehead. "I promise." He whispered. He reluctantly let her go and stepped back towards the door.

Why did it feel like he's known her a lot longer than he was led to believe? He carefully opened her door and crept back into the hallway. He reached the end to find the Matsumoto look-a-like still asleep. He slipped back into the stairwell and reached the ground floor. There were a lot less people roaming the area than when he got there. Ichigo made his way through the long hallway back to his own wing. He headed directly to the cafeteria, grabbed two drinks and headed back out to the gardens.

"Ichigo-san! I was worried about you and was about to sound the alarm!" She said.

Ichigo forced a laugh, "Why would you do that? I just got a bit lost, it wasn't where I remembered it." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Inoue blushed. "I thought you might have been using me for something."

"I would never do that to you, Inoue."

Her heart fluttered at the way he said her name. It was a good thing she was sitting as she was sure her legs would have turned to butter. He smiled at her as he sat down.

A shadow fell over them.

"I think it's time for you to return to your room, Kurosaki. I think you've done enough exploring for one night, don't you?" A male's voice said. Ichigo's heart sped up as he turned around and faced a tall man with long brown hair. Instinctively he knew.

"Aizen."

The man smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Ya'll are funny! "This is good, where's HitsuRuki?" eheheh… I've got three in the works and I had the hardest time choosing one to publish first. I decided (and changed the title) to go with one that's a bit different from the action type stuff. It's pure romance on a cruise ship. So if you want an ooey gooey HitsuRuki, look for "On the Way to Alaska". I'm publishing chapter 1 the same time I'm publishing this chapter. Happy?**

**I also have two others I've been working on that has been taking my attention away from posting regularly. My apologies. I've set them aside and will do my best to keep one of the two stories going at least weekly. **

**Thank you all for your kind reviews! You are wonderful! I also want to thank those of you who are reading! No pressure for reviews as sometimes I just read for the sake of reading and that's ok. :0 Yeah, I said that was ok. **

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

"Aizen," Ichigo said.

The man smiled. Inoue stood up quickly and bowed before him.

"Good evening, Aizen-sama," she said.

He looked at her and his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing out here?"

"We-we were having dinner out here, Sir," she replied.

"And why was Kurosaki unaccompanied roaming the building?" he asked, still smiling.

"He-we forgot the drinks, sir. He said he would get them, sir."

"So you just let him walk into the building by himself?"

"Y-yes sir," she said. She nervously looked at Ichigo before looking at the ground.

"So, Kurosaki, did you enjoy your tour?"

"I-I just got a little lost, no big deal."

Aizen looked intently at him. His eyes roaming over the young man, his smile never leaving his face. "Well then, would you mind telling me why you felt it necessary to go into someone else's room if you're looking for a vending machine?"

Inoue looked sharply at Ichigo. "You didn't go to the cafeteria, did you?" She demanded.

"I told you, I got a little lost."

"All the way to Kuchiki-san's room?" Aizen asked, his eye brow raised, "I'm sorry she wasn't in a better condition to talk to you more. Maybe fill your head with more Shinigami talk, but you see…she's been very bad lately. Trying to get out of her room and talk to you seems to be her biggest priority. Considering you've only met her twice, I'm amazed at how tender you were with your visit."

Ichigo's eyes widened for a minute before he mentally slapped himself for not thinking the place would have security cameras. He sighed deeply.

"Fine, you caught me. I went to see Rukia." Inoue gasped before she narrowed her eyes.

"So you did use me!" She wailed. Ichigo glanced at her before concentrating back to Aizen.

"And why was that?" Aizen asked.

"I don't know. I just had to make sure she was ok. The way Chad hauled her off and then Tatsuki said someone escaped their room the other day and they were caught and severely punished. I just knew it was her. They wouldn't tell me if she was ok or what her punishment was so I had to see for myself."

"And?"

"Whatever she's done, she didn't deserve to be hurt like that!" He said as anger kicked in.

Aizen smiled. "Oh, I agree with you. Kuchiki-san is very special to us. What if I told you we didn't have anything to do with it? What if I told you that it was her that escaped the other night and she ran out into the street and got hit by a car?"

Ichigo was shocked. That was an outright lie as she was with him until they found her that night. He couldn't let that bit of info out though.

"She…she got hit by a car?"

"Her body was thrown hundreds of feet, that is why she's all scratched and banged up. She snapped her arm in two when she finally landed." He was still looking intently, waiting for something. Ichigo knew he was dancing around a trap. A trap placed by this smiling man and he was very close to getting caught.

Ichigo was furious but he couldn't do anything. If he called Aizen's bluff, he would lose his advantage, but if he didn't, who knows what else they would do to Rukia. He closed his eyes.

"That's too bad. She looked pretty banged up. I know she's pretty crazy with those Shinigami stories of hers and I believe that she believes them. I thought that since I understood where she was coming from and now realize how delusional I was that maybe I could help her."

Aizen looked at him as if he were weighing his words.

"Do you want to see her again?"

"Yes. I think I can help her." Ichigo countered.

"Hnmph. Interesting." His eyes narrowed as he looked at Inoue. "I want you to report to my office after your shift. Understood?"

"Y-yes, Aizen-sama."

"Good, now get Kurosaki back in his room." He looked back to Ichigo, "I trust you've seen all you needed to see this evening." He turned and headed back inside.

"Hey! Wait!" Ichigo called out after him, "Do I get to see Rukia?"

Aizen stopped and spent several minutes considering his request. Ichigo was about to say something, thinking the guy fell asleep on his feet when he replied.

"I don't see why not. In fact, it just might make things happen a little faster." Ichigo could sense the smile in the man's words although his back was still turned towards him.

"What do you mean by that?" But his words fell on deaf ears as Aizen was already at the entrance to the building.

He felt a tight grip on his arm as Inoue led him back to his room. She didn't say anything to him. She didn't have to, as she pushed and pulled him through the halls, he knew she wasn't pleased with him at all.

It wasn't until they reached his room that he spoke up.

"Inoue, please listen to me."

"NO!" she said as she whirled around on him. Her hair flew around her gracefully as she spun. "You used me!" Hurt was clearly visible in her grey eyes.

Ichigo stood there and sighed. He ran a hand through his orange locks and looked at her. "Yes," he admitted. "Yes I did and I'm sorry."

"How could you?" She asked as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Look, it's not like I set out to use you. Something happened to Rukia and no one would tell me what was going on so I had to see. I had to make sure she was ok."

"And is she?"

"No." He sighed again. "She's hurt." _And it's all my fault…again. _He sat down on his bed. Inoue's eyes softened.

"You like her, huh?"

"What? I only met her a few times and even when I did she was out of her mind." Even as he said those words, they felt false. He knew Rukia and he knew Rukia knew him. Their relationship went beyond friendship, beyond love. He was her sun, she was his moon and that's how it was. There were no words to describe what they had, what they felt for each other and it was right then at that moment he knew. Something was terribly wrong. Something happened to his memories. The fact he felt something so deep for someone he only met a few times just wasn't true. He believed her. He believed in her. The fact that she faced torture just so she could protect him, protect their advantage proved to him even more there was something bigger going on.

"Ichigo?" Inoue asked.

"Huh?"

"You were distracted, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I-I just need to get some sleep. I'm very sorry for what happened Inoue, and I promise I will never do anything like that to you again." He said.

"You probably won't get the chance," she said quietly as she left leaving Ichigo more confused than before.

* * *

><p>"I thought the whole idea was to keep the bitch away from him?" Grimmjow said. "Now you want them together?" They were seated in one of the executive meeting rooms. A long mahogany table sat in the center of the room. Grimmjow, Gin and a few other lowly Arrancar sat around the table. Aizen was at the head but not seated.<p>

"Yes. It doesn't matter how long we separate them for. He will eventually remember her."

"Why couldn't you put her in the illusion?"

Aizen shot him a glare as he frowned. "Because apparently after being a host for the Hogyoku for so long, it left her with the power of resistance."

"Resistance?" Gin asked.

"She's immune to any sensory type Zanpaktou."

"I thought…"

"Yes, well. No matter. We'll just use it to our advantage. Starting tomorrow, we will put them together for a while. And then we'll break him by destroying what he cares about. One…by…one…"

A soft knock on the door was heard.

"A-Aizen-sama?"

"Ah, yes, come on in." The door opened and "Inoue" came in. Outside of the illusion, "Inoue" was nothing more than a female Arrancar of no rank as were most of the people Ichigo came in contact with. The female came in and sat down as Aizen motioned for everyone to leave except Grimmjow.

The female eyed the blue haired man nervously.

"Why were you on the grounds eating dinner with the prisoner?"

"He-he invited me, sir. I thought the best course of action would be to see if he was planning anything."

"Then why did you let him out of your sight?"

"I-I don't know. He said he forgot the drinks and that he knew the way. I trusted him."

Aizen said nothing and his expression was blank. He paced the floor in front of her. Back and forth. Back and forth.

"You trusted him," he said as he stopped his pacing and looked at her.

"Y-yes." She was on the floor before she heard the smack sound that sent her there. Her head landed with a sickening crack and a thud as it bounced twice before stopping. She opened her eyes only to find she couldn't focus.

"You TRUSTED him! You trusted HIM!" Aizen spit out. "WHO do you work for?"

"Y-you, Aizen-sama."

"Do you now understand the problem we have here?"

"Y-yes."

"Then you will understand why I have to do what I have to do," he looked at Grimmjow and gave him a nod. The female's eyes grew wide as she opened her mouth to protest.

* * *

><p>Ichigo woke up to a huge BOOM sound as the building shook a bit. Not being able to go back to sleep he sat up in his bed. A different alarm sounded. He was about to get up when Tatsuki came in.<p>

"What's going on?" He asked her. She didn't reply, she took a needle out and jabbed Ichigo's arm with it. "What's that for?"

"It's time for you to wake up!"

Ichigo's vision blurred before he passed out.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo!"<p>

He heard her voice through a cloud of fog. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't feel anything.

_Am I dead?_ He thought.

"Ichigo!"

His eyes fluttered open as he slowly regained control over his body. His mind was still foggy, his limbs still heavy.

""Ichigo!"

Ichigo opened his eyes and blinked a few times. His mouth was dry. He was lying on a makeshift futon on the floor. He felt something restraining his neck. He tried to bring his arm up to feel what it was, but they were too heavy. He tried to turn his head towards the voice, but that was hard to do. So he just laid there until the shot wore off more.

"Ichigo!"

"Hng," his tongue seemed to be ten times too big and stuck to the roof of his mouth. He opened his eyes again and looked at the white ceiling. He moved his eyes, but could only see the ceiling. He closed them again.

"Are you ok?"

"Hng."

"Can you move?"

"Hng."

A small laugh, "I guess the effects haven't worn off yet. Don't worry you'll be able to move soon."

"Hng."

Darkness surrounded him as he passed back out.

"Kurosaki!" Ichigo opened his eyes. His arms were being held behind him, someone was supporting him.

"Nice to have you with us again."

"Ai-zen," Ichigo said. The fog was clearing and he felt better than before. He was in a white room with one window. As he looked outside into the endless night and the familiar crescent moon he knew exactly where he was. Los Noches, Hueco Mundo.

"**It's 'bout time you fucking woke up!"** his inner hollow yelled. **"You're pathetic!"**

As he became more aware of his surroundings, he realized he was being held up. His arms and legs were loosely tied. As he turned, he found himself looking in to the smiling eyes of Yammi.

"You so much as struggle and I'll pop your head off like a dandelion!" he gruffed.

"Ichigo!" A familiar voice called from across the room. She was bandaged and bruised. What was left of her Shinigami uniform was tattered and torn. She had a collar around her neck. It was like the one she wore before her execution, the reiatsu suppression collar. She looked like hell, but she was alive. She was tied up with Grimmjow standing behind her and holding her in place.

"Rukia…"

"Ah now that this little reunion has taken place, let me welcome you to my humble abode, Kurosaki." Aizen stood in front of Rukia, facing her. He softly brushed her hair from her dirty face. She flinched at his touch earning him a smile.

"What the hell happened?

"It's not what happened that's important as what will happen, "Aizen responded as his attention never left Rukia's face. He caressed her cheek and moved his thumb over her lips. Rukia drew back and spit on him.

Aizen let out a partial laugh, took out a cloth and wiped his face.

"Leave her alone!" Ichigo said as he tried to pull away.

Aizen turned and smiled at him before turning around and slapping Rukia across her face. Hard. Her bottom lip caught on her teeth and ripped open. Her head turned so fast, she thought she was going to pass out. As she started to fall, Grimmjow held her firm.

"No! Let her go!" Ichigo yelled.

"You don't seem to understand your place, Kurosaki. You do not tell me what I can and can't do." He cupped Rukia's face with his hand and brought it up. Blood dripped from her mouth onto his hand and rolled down before falling to the floor with a _plink_. "You do not tell me who I can or cannot be…with" he said as he bent down and kissed her.

Ichigo struggled against the huge Arrancar. "No! Don't you dare touch her!"

Rukia was bordering consciousness. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on. She struggled as best as she could which only led to Grimmjow tightening his hold. She could no longer feel her arms or legs. Considering how he was holding her up, it didn't really matter. She tried to move her head, but even that met with resistance with Aizen's own hand.

He finally moved his mouth off of hers. Ichigo closed his eyes as he heard her gasp for air. He couldn't watch as Aizen placed kisses down the side of her bloodied face to her neck.

"Pl-please…s-st-op," she managed to croak out. It came out as a whisper but it reverberated louder and louder inside Ichigo's head.

"**Even now, you're pathetic. Letting him do this to **_**her? Her**_** of all people? You're killing me! You hear me you pathetic fuck! Stand there if you want, but let me out so I can put these bastards in their place!"**

"What do you want from me?" Ichigo screamed at Aizen.

"What do I want?" He laughed, "My dear boy, I already have what I want because you're going to give me the rest. You're going to fight with me, side by side."

"What!"

"You're going to help me take down the Shinigami and the Visards one by one, and then you're going to help me kill everyone in Karakura so that we can open the gates of heaven together!"

"I will never fight alongside you!" Ichigo seethed.

"Oh? But I think you will," he said.

A small Arrancar came into the room and whispered something only Aizen could hear. He motioned for Grimmjow to drop Rukia who had lost consciousness. She fell ungracefully to the floor as Grimmjow stepped over her on his way out of the room. Aizen left next and motioned to Yammi.

Yammi pushed Ichigo and let him go at the same time, making him fall to the floor also.

Once outside, Aizen set up a barrier so they could not leave the room.

"I have some business to attend to but I will be back," he said with mild annoyance.

Ichigo was instantly by Rukia's side as soon as he was able to move. He pulled her onto his lap and held her.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Follow along as we head down another Chappy hole… (Rabbit hole, get it? Chappy hole? Hahaha!)**

**Thank you again for all of your wonderful comments! Thank you also to those who have placed this story in your favorites and alerts. Finally, (like I'm giving an acceptance speech here…) Thank you everyone for just reading my work! I really appreciate it.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

"Rukia?" Ichigo asked as he gently rocked her. He looked at her bloodied and bruised body and closed his eyes tight. "Rukia, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I know you'd kick my ass and tell me you can take care of yourself." His breath hitched. He swallowed and held her closer. "My hollow is right, I'm so pathetic. I couldn't do anything. How am I supposed to save everyone and Karakura now? Hell, I don't even know what the hell happened. How I got here, when I fell into his trap."

A female Arrancar walked through the barrier. She wheeled in a cart which held a basin of water, some cleaning and medical supplies and clothing.

Ichigo's grip on Rukia tightened as she came in. Her mouth was covered by bone preventing her from speaking. She indicated the supplies were to be used for Rukia as she picked up some cloth and dipped it into the basin of water. As she tried to get close to Rukia but Ichigo pulled her out of reach.

"You all have done enough to her. No one touches her but me." The Arrancar nodded. She placed the cloth on the floor, next to Ichigo and left, easily passing through the barrier.

Ichigo picked up the cloth and gently wiped the blood off of Rukia's face. Finding out he needed two hands, he carefully laid her down. He took the cloth and dipped it in the basin and wrung it out. He softly ran the cloth over her bloodied lips. Anger coursed through his veins as he remembered Aizen's mouth on hers. He slowed down as he realized he was scrubbing a bit too hard.

His touch became gentle again as he cleared his mind and focused. He cleaned her neck as best as he could with the collar in the way. He cleaned everything else that was exposed as best as he could. He saw the three bandages from her fight with the 9th and grabbed the med kit off the cart. He gulped, turned beet red and opened what was left of her uniform. Even in blood and filth she was beautiful.

Ichigo removed the old bandages and wished Inoue was there so she could heal her properly. He cleaned them up as best as he could and re-bandaged them. He closed her uniform back up as best as he could. Looking at the set of clothes the Arrancar brought in, he debated. She would freak out if she woke up looking like one of them, but there wasn't much of her Shinigami uniform left to put her back in. Sighing, Ichigo grabbed one of the white uniforms off of the cart.

It was small, as if it were made for her. Ichigo didn't care for that thought, didn't want to see her in the enemy's uniform. He threw the med kit against the wall. The outside casing shattered as shards and bandages flew back and landed on the floor.

"NO! Don't touch me!" Rukia screamed as her eyes flew open. She scratched and clawed her way to the corner of the room. She curled herself into a ball and shook.

"Rukia! It's me, Ichigo," he said as he went to her side.

She shot out her hand, "No! Stop…please…"

His heart wrenched at her voice, at her words. He was going to kill them. He was going to kill them all; he didn't care what he had to do to do it.

"Rukia?" He gently touched her and thought better of it as she flinched. "Rukia!"

She slowly lifted up her head and looked at him with her big violet eyes.

"I-ichi-go?"

"Yes, Rukia, it's me. I'm not going to hurt you," he said as he held out his hand for her. She grabbed it and flew into his arms. She clutched at him and hung onto him like a lifeline. She buried her head in his chest and just held him. Ichigo wrapped his arms around her and pulled the rest of her body close.

"I've missed you. I-I tried to get you out. I tried to tell you what was going on, but his Zanpaktou…He had you…"

"Shhh, I know. I was stupid and I didn't believe you. It took me too long to figure it all out and I still don't understand it all."

"I tried, Ichi-Ichigo. I tried to save them..."

Ichigo's eyes widened before they narrowed. His heart plummeted as he had a feeling what was coming next.

"Rukia, you don't have to…"

"Yes! You need to know!" She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "Chad and Renji are g-gone."

"How?"

"That big Arrancar, Yammi."

"The one your brother defeated?"

"What?"

"Your brother and Kenpachi…"

Rukia looked at him and put her hand over his forehead.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Ichigo, Nii-sama and Kenpachi-taicho were never here."

"What?"

"The last time I saw Nii-sama was when he gave Renji and I his blessing to follow you." Ichigo was stunned.

"Where's Inoue?"

"I don't know. She's not here and neither is Ishida."

"I left them to come save you and the others from Yammi."

"Me? I didn't fight Yammi."

"He had you in his hand; he was in the process of throwing you to the ground…" Ichigo shut his eyes. What the hell? "Ok, let's start from the beginning."

Rukia put her hands on her head and shivered. Ichigo offered her the white garment. If nothing else it would keep her warm. Rukia closed her eyes and let out a soft sob. Not having a choice she put on the dress. Ichigo looked away. Rukia took off what was left of her Shinigami uniform. A small tear fell from her eye as she looked at herself. If she were standing, the dress would have fallen to just beneath her knees. Black outlined the bottom and the sleeves. The sleeves flared out and were wide open at the ends. The body of the dress fit her snuggly, hugging her curves. It had a deep v line neck dipping down to her belly button. It, also, was edged in black.

When he turned around, Ichigo thought she looked stunning in spite of it being the enemies uniform. Rukia blushed and tried to cover her chest with her old uniform. Silently, Ichigo took it from her and tossed it aside. He wasn't sure what he was doing, maybe finding out if this was real, maybe wanting to assure himself that she was real, either way, he pulled her back into his lap, leaned down and kissed her.

At first, their lips just pressed together, neither one moving. Then it deepened as Rukia shifted in his lap. They broke for air and looked at each other before kissing again, deeper this time. Ichigo slid his hand across her back and pressed her against him. Rukia moaned at the intimate contact to which Ichigo took advantage and slipped his tongue inside her warm mouth. He decided instantly that nothing tasted sweeter than her.

Rukia's head was swimming. Was this real? Ichigo was safe, awake and alert, for the moment. More importantly, he was here, with her. She felt herself melt against him as she kissed him back. She poured every feeling she ever had for him into that kiss, everything she was. She ran her hand through his orange locks and held him.

They kissed and held each other for a while before breaking for air. Even then, he held her close and nuzzled her neck with his lips. He felt her start to shake and knew she was about to cry. He's never seen her like this.

Her whisper could barely be heard. "Inoue cut down the guards in Soul Society with her flowers and joined Aizen. Soutaicho Yamamoto called her a traitor. Renji and I were called back with the others. You charged ahead, not waiting for me or Renji to get back."

"I remember all of that. You and Renji came. I was happy you were there."

"We reached Los Noches and split up. I'm met up with Kaien-dono, or rather the hollow that took his life in Arrancar form," she said sadly. Ichigo's fingers dug into her dress a little more. "After, I thought I was left for dead. I woke up in the science lab and was then put in a cell.

"I heard about Chad and Renji, but I didn't believe them. I didn't believe them until their bodies were brought in. That scientist, Ichigo…He…he reanimated them! I tried to stop him. I broke the vials he was going to use on them. I didn't see that he had one in his hand and he stabbed me with it. When I woke up, he turned them into some kind of Arrancar, but they weren't maintaining their shape. They turned into…things." Ichigo felt her shudder at the memory. "They served no purpose so Aizen killed them a second time. He was all smiles and I knew something was wrong.

"He took me into his room and told me I was worthless and useless, weak. He was going to send me back to Soul Society. He opened a Garganta but it wasn't. It was just a portal and that pink headed freak was on the other side. That was when Aizen figured out I could see right through his illusions. He wanted to know why and I was taken back to the lab. They strapped me down onto this table. There were all kinds of needles and knives on a table nearby. I tried to stay awake. I tried, but the pain was too much and I passed out.

"I was cut up and bandaged and back in my cell when I woke up again. Outside, I could hear Aizen talking about your fight with Nnoitora. He was upset that you defeated him and then disappeared with Inoue. He thought you had found a way to get back to the Living World. He went onto say he had to find you as he was suffering too many losses. Ishida managed to defeat Ulquiorra and was also missing. The Arrancar that came in that night kept taunting me, telling me I was left behind." Tears were welling up in her eyes again. Ichigo stroked her hair.

"I would never, ever leave you behind, Rukia." He whispered. She nodded, took a deep breath and continued.

"I don't know how long I was down there for after that night, no one came. I was forgotten about. I managed to break out and that's when I found you. You were…"

"Already in Aizen's illusion," Ichigo finished for her. "How did you know where to go? The hospital…the layout…"

Rukia gave a sad smile, "I have Szayel Aporro Granz to thank for that. That pink haired freak of a scientist. I'm not sure what he did while trying to find out why I could see though Aizen's illusions, but not only can I see through them, I can see them as well."

"So you saw what I saw…"

"Yes."

"So what happened? Why did he give up on the illusion?"

"I don't know."

Ichigo sighed, "So the cavalry didn't come to save the day."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. I guess I was dreaming before the illusion started. I was fighting with Nnoitora when Kenpachi came and finished him off. Inoue was taken again and I went to get her again. I fought with Ulquiorra and he killed me. My hollow came out and destroyed him. I ended up hurting Ishida in the process. I regained control and felt you, Chad and Renji fighting Yammi. I got there as Yammi threw you. I was able to catch you before you were crushed into the ground.

After that, I went to Karakura and met up with the other Taicho's. I found out my father was a Shinigami and I trained with Zangetsu for three months before learning the final move that defeated Aizen. But I had to choose, Rukia. In return for the final move, I had to give up everything about being a Shinigami. I had to give up you." The hurt in his eyes was immeasurable as Rukia placed her palm on the side of his face.

"But you defeated him." She smiled.

"At what cost? Losing you?"

"It was for the greater good, Ichigo."

"Greater good, greater good, greater good! Raaah! That's all I hear! What about what I want? What about us? What about you? Why do you have to keep sacrificing yourself and the things you care about over and over and over again? For the greater good?"

"Ichigo, why are you getting so worked up? It was a dream, I'm here now. We're here, together."

Ichigo pulled her in tighter and buried his face in her hair.

"If that's the future, Rukia… I can't…I don't want it to be without you." He whispered as he held her.

Rukia massaged his head while playing with his hair. "Then we'll defeat him together so that no matter what happens, we'll be together."

"Ah," he replied.

An Arrancar came in a few hours later and replaced the med cart with a food cart. He looked at the two in the cell who were sleeping in each other's arms before leaving.

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki!"<p>

Ichigo woke to find Ishida next to him, trying to wake him up.

"Ishida!"

"SHHHHH!"

"Ishida!" he whispered as he sat up. He looked over to see Rukia was still sleeping before turning to his missing friend.

"Kurosaki, I'm so glad I found you! We have to go, now." He said as he indicated to the door. Ichigo moved to wake up Rukia but was stopped. "No, don't wake her."

"What?"

"Don't wake her, it'll be better this way."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, I'll explain on the way," he said as he started moving towards the door. He looked back to find Ichigo was now standing, but he wasn't moving. "Ichigo, come on!"

"I'm not leaving Rukia."

"You're going to have to. She can't come to where we're going."

"Why?"

"Because she's one of them," he said with venom in his voice.

"What?"

"Them, them! She's one of them!"

"Who?"

"Ichigo, Inoue-san is waiting and if she gets caught, we're all going down. We've got to get out of here, NOW!" Ishida said desperately.

"And I told you I wasn't going anywhere without Rukia. You will explain or you'll be going on your own."

"Why do you have to be stubborn now!" He sighed as he pushed his glasses up on his face. "Inoue found a way for us to get out of here and return home safely. Rukia can't come because she's just a Shinigami."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "I'm a Shinigami."

"But you're different. You've never had the Hogyoku inside of you. If she comes with us, this whole place will be alerted and the gate won't let her pass."

"What do you mean the gate won't let her pass?"

"Some of the things Granz did to her. He modified her soul so that she could no longer pass through the gate without her soul particles being torn apart."

Ichigo's eyes widened as he looked at her still sleeping form.

"She might as well be one of them, Ichigo. She can never leave."

Ichigo lunged at his friend and grabbed him by the collar. "She will NEVER be one of them, do you understand? I know you don't think much of Shinigami's and the only reason you came was to rescue Inoue, but I'm not leaving without Rukia. If she can't leave, then neither will I." He said defiantly.

Ishida shook his head.

"Don't be stupid, Kurosaki! Do you have any idea how much you're going hurt Inoue-san if you stay here? If you stay here, she'll want to stay here."

"Then you're going to have to convince her to go without me."

"Oh no! You're not laying that on me. If you're not going to go, you're going to be the one to tell her."

Ichigo thought. If he woke up Rukia to tell her what was going on she might make him leave with them. No, he knows she would make him leave with them and stay behind.

"Fine let's go."

"Ichigo?" Rukia said as she sat up.

"She's even dressed like one of them," Ishida said. "Come on, let's hurry."

In a blur Rukia was up and stood in front of Ichigo, her back to him, her arms out, shielding him.

"You're not taking him anywhere."

"Far be it from me to rescue my friend. You want him to rot here with you?"

"That's not going to happen and he's not your friend."

"Yes it is, Kuchiki. You're not strong enough to save him, are you?"

"I will!"

"Like you did Chad and Renji?"

"I won't make that same mistake again!"

"It won't matter. You'll get overpowered and then what?"

"You're not touching him!"

"Ishida, what the hell are you doing?"

"Ichigo! That's not Ishida." Ichigo looked from Rukia to his friend. He closed his eyes and pushed Rukia behind him. He brought back his fist and knocked the Ishida impersonator out.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I'm just smiling as we go down another hole... What is dream what is reality? Hell I think I lost track myself...  
><strong>

**Thank you everyone for your kind words. Thank you everyone else for reading. **

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

"_Ichigo! That's not Ishida." Ichigo looked from Rukia to his friend. He closed his eyes and pushed Rukia behind him. He brought back his fist and knocked him out._

"What the hell, Rukia?" Ichigo asked as he stepped back from his friend. Rukia looked at the cart that was changed out while they slept.

"Did you eat anything?"

"Huh?"

"Something from the cart…Did you eat anything?"

"Yeah, it was just an apple." He said. Rukia closed her eyes.

"You've been drugged."

"What?"

"That's one of the few ways Aizen can maintain his illusions here if he's in Soul Society. Those meds they made you take? Those only kept you in the illusion. I didn't find out about that until later."

Ichigo looked at his friend, or who he thought was his friend. He knelt down beside him.

"Are you sure, Rukia?"

She flashed him a hurtful look.

"It's just he looks…"

Rukia walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Why would he want you to leave me behind?"

"He said you couldn't come through the gate back to the living world. Granz modified your soul."

Rukia was quiet.

"Could that be true?"

Rukia gave him a sad look. "I don't know. I don't know what to think or believe. He could have done anything to me once I passed out. Who says he told me the truth when I woke up?"

Ichigo frowned as he tried to suppress his anger. They hurt her. They did god knows what to her. His thoughts were interrupted as 'Ishida' moaned. Ichigo grabbed what was left of Rukia's Shinigami uniform and tore the rest into strips. He used them to tie their prisoner up.

"Ichigo, the barrier is down."

"Where's the lab?"

Rukia was shocked at his question. "Why would you want to go there?"

He pointed to his neck and hers. "I'm hoping the key to these damn things is there. It would be utter suicide if we left here with these things on."

Rukia closed her eyes. "Ok, come on."

They left the cell together and turned left. Up ahead was a flight of stairs. Quickly they ascended and opened the door. Ichigo motioned for Rukia to stay back as he went through. A few minutes later he came back and signaled it was ok.

Rukia took point and led the way through several hallways and stairwells. Soon, they were in view of a big picture window with a door to the side of it.

"That's it."

From their vantage point they could see two workers in the lab. Granz wasn't one of them.

"Now what?" Rukia asked. Ichigo smiled.

"I take them out. Wait here," he said as he quickly headed for the door.

"Baka," Rukia whispered. She watched through the window as Ichigo threw open the door surprising the Arrancars. He was quickly able to knock one out while the other reached for a syringe. He was just about to bring it down when Ichigo brought his hand up to block. He countered with a fist to the side of the head, knocking him out.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled. He turned around in time to see a third Arrancar coming for him. Surprised there were three, not two, Ichigo was knocked to the ground. The Arrancar picked up the syringe and raised it up. Before Ichigo could react, the Arrancar fell to the ground.

Ichigo sat up and saw a metal box lying next to the fallen Arrancar and Rukia standing behind him with a smirk on her face.

"Still rushing head first into things, I see."

Ichigo stood up and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, thanks."

They searched the lab, but could not find anything that would release their collars.

"Damn it!" Ichigo said as he slammed his fists down onto a table. "We're toast without our powers. We won't make it 10 feet before a hollow comes. Then what are we supposed to do? Yell at it?"

Rukia leaned on another table and thought. "What about Aizen's throne room? Or another Espada, maybe we can subdue one to where they'll open the Garganta for us."

"And then what? We don't have enough spiritual pressure combined to make the pathway." Rukia never thought that day would come considering how much he had all the time.

She closed her eyes and thought.

"What about Aizen's throne room?"

"Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah," she said. She looked nervous.

"Come on, maybe we'll find Inoue and the real Ishida along the way!" He said as he took off.

And ran right into Granz as he cleared the door way. He flinched as he felt the needle poke his arm.

"Rukia!" he said as he felt his world start to spin. He felt a strong pair of arms grab his shoulders, catching him before he fell to the floor. He managed to keep his eyes open as he watched three Arrancar take Rukia down and bring her to her knees.

"You have been a bad girl escaping your room again, haven't you?" Granz said as he walked over to her. Ichigo stumbled as he tried to get out the grasp, but quickly stopped as he felt the room start to spin faster.

"Leave...her...alone!" He shouted as he lunged for her. He managed to grab her hand before falling to the floor.

"Oh no, I don't think I can. She's been a very bad girl."

His laugh was the last thing he heard before his world turned black.

* * *

><p>"…-kun!"<p>

That voice…

Ichigo rolled over. His head hurt, his side hurt, his chest hurt, hell his whole body hurt. What the hell was in that vial anyway?

Ichigo brought his hand to his eyes and rubbed them. There was something he was trying to remember…

Rukia…

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled out as he sat up, knocking heads with someone.

"Ow! I'm sorry! That was my fault, Kurosaki-kun!"

"Inoue?"

"Yes!" Ichigo looked at her. She was dressed in the Arrancar uniform and had tears in her eyes. "I thought you died, Kurosaki-kun! Thank you…for not dying!" She said as she let her tears fall.

Ichigo smiled at her and looked around. He was back where he defeated Ulquiorra .

"Ishida?"

"Here…" he said from a few feet away.

"You're not wounded…"

"Why would I be? You kicked that Arrancar's ass and then passed out. You've been out for so long even after you were healed, Inoue-san was worried."

"Rukia! Where's Rukia?"

Tears that had almost stopped started up again as Inoue let out a sob. "Sh-she-she's g-gone."

"What do you mean, gone? Where?"

Ishida pushed his glasses up on his nose and sighed. "You don't remember? I hate to be the one telling you this, but she died in her battle with the 9th Espada. They killed each other."

Ichigo looked at Ishida like he had an alien head.

"No! No she didn't!"

"I-it-it-it's tr-true. I-I-I saw her," Inoue said.

"Where?" Ichigo said as he put his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "Where did you see her?"

"What are you doing? Let her go!" Ishida said as he tapped Ichigo on the arm.

"Inoue, I need to know where you saw Rukia."

"What's the point, she's dead, and we got Inoue back, now we can leave before we lose anyone else. Bad enough we lost Chad and Renji."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo yelled.

"Ichigo, what's wrong with you? You knew Kuchiki-san and the others died. You, yourself said we had to salvage what we had left and get Inoue out of here. She was top priority."

Ichigo's breath hitched. No. He closed his eyes. He was just with Granz. He threatened Rukia. He had to get back in there and save her from him. He wasn't going to leave her.

"Ishida, take Inoue and get out of here," he said with his eyes still closed.

"Kurosaki-kun!"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get Rukia."

"Kurosaki, she's dead! There's nothing you can do!"

"No! She's still out there, Granz has her!"

"Ichigo, Granz is dead! Everything and everyone is dead!"

"STOP!" Ichigo said as he clutched his head.

"Kurosaki…kun?" Inoue asked quietly, "You had a very close bond with Kuchiki-san. Can you still feel her? You can still feel her if you try."

"No, I can't. But I just know she's alive. I know she's out there and I'm not leaving until I find her."

"Then I want to stay with you and help."

"NO, NO, NO!" Ishida exclaimed. "Damn it, Ichigo! You're changing the mission! We were supposed to save Inoue and get out regardless of the loss."

Ichigo grabbed Ishida's collar and lifted him up. "I will NOT leave her! If she's dead, she's dead, but I'm still not leaving her here, do you understand?"

Ishida sighed and threw his hands in the air. "Fine! We'll waste time and go find her dead body."

"No. You will take Inoue and get out of here. She's been subjected to enough; she needs to get out while she's safe."

"And you're the only one who can guarantee she'll be safe, Kurosaki."

"What? You're powers not good enough, Quincy?" Ichigo taunted.

Ishida's eyes narrowed to the point he looked like he was going to spool up and hit him. "It's going to take both of us to get her out of here safely. You know that."

"Fine, then stay here until I get back."

"Kurosaki-kun, I-I want to stay with you. I can help look," Inoue said with concern in her voice.

Ichigo looked at the girl with the worried eyes. "Inoue, you'll be safe here with Ishida. It might be dangerous where I'm going and I might not be able to stop and make sure you're ok at every turn."

Inoue looked hurt.

"We might as well go with you," Ishida said.

"Where did you last see her, Inoue?"

"Huh?"

"You said you saw her…Where?" Ichigo asked. She looked at him with her grey eyes and sighed.

"I…I meant to say I didn't feel her. I haven't seen her since we were together in Soul Society."

Ichigo frowned as he remembered Rukia telling him things were not always what they seemed to be.

"Fuck," he whispered as he looked at Ishida and Inoue.

"What was that Kurosaki?" Ishida asked.

"Nothing. Stay here where I know you guys are safe and I'll be back,"

"Kurosaki-kun…"

"I said stay!" The more he thought about it, the more he felt like these were not his friends. He didn't know who to trust. He had to find Rukia and have her help him find the real others and then they could get the hell out of there.

"We can't let you go just yet," Ishida said with a nod to Inoue. She removed her hair pins and smiled. As Ichigo was watching her, Ishida came up and knocked him out.

* * *

><p>Music.<p>

Fur Elise was playing on a piano.

Ichigo opened his eyes, slowly sat up and looked around. He was in a huge western style bed. The room was simple; bed, dresser, mirror, a nightstand on either side of the bed. The window next to his side of the bed was open and a soft breeze blew the shear white curtains. They seemed to dance to the classical piece.

Ichigo shook his head. There was a picture on the nightstand of him and Rukia together. He was standing behind her, arms around her shoulders and they were smiling. There was another similar picture of them together with his family at a park. He looked at the other side of the bed there were more pictures of his family, more pictures of Rukia. Some were normal shots while others were a bit…disturbing: Rukia in school in the world of the living, Rukia fighting a random hollow, Rukia doing paperwork in Soul Society, Rukia fighting the 9th Espada.

Ichigo picked up that frame and examined the picture. Rukia was impaled by Kaien's three pronged staff while Sode no Shirayuki was through the Espada's own head.

"What the hell?" His heart was pounding as anger coursed through his veins.

He got out of bed and walked to the mirror and examined himself. No opened wounds, or recent bruises. No bandages. He had on a simple t-shirt and boxers. He looked behind him to find a pair of jeans on the bed. He put them on and opened the door.

The music was louder as Ichigo followed it down the hall. The hallway opened up to the living room where he found a grand piano sitting in the corner. His eyes widened as he saw that it was Aizen who was playing.

When the last note was played, Aizen stood.

"Welcome, Kurosaki-kun. Have a seat. I believe we have much to talk about."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Around and around and around we go… Where we stop – does anyone know?**

**Thank you everyone who has read, commented, alerted or acknowledged this story – I value you all!**

**So sorry about the delay, I had to get my tonsils out and then we started the really long process of moving from England to the US and visiting family in between… Still working on the later part, but…**

**Enough about me…**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

_He got out of bed and walked to the mirror and examined himself. No opened wounds, or recent bruises. No bandages. He had on a simple t-shirt and boxers. He looked behind him to find a pair of jeans on the bed. He put them on and opened the door. _

_The music was louder as Ichigo followed it down the hall. The hallway opened up to the living room where he found a grand piano sitting in the corner. His eyes widened as he saw that it was Aizen who was playing. _

_When the last note was played, Aizen stood._

"_Welcome, Kurosaki-kun. Have a seat. I believe we have much to talk about."_

"I have nothing to say to you!" Ichigo said as he stood next to the couch.

Aizen smiled and indicated for Ichigo to sit. When the stubborn boy continued to stand, Aizen snapped his fingers.

Grimmjow came out of the kitchen. He had a small white sack slung over his right shoulder. He looked at Ichigo and sneered.

Ichigo clenched his hands into fists, powers or no powers he was going to beat that blue freak into a pulp with his bare hands if he had to.

"I would suggest you start listening to me and what I have to say. I would also suggest you take what I say seriously and to heart for I have something of yours that I have no intentions of giving back."

"So what? You're going to use whatever it is you think you have to force me to work for you?"

"Hmm, something like that."

"Humph, go right ahead, there's nothing of mine you could possibly have that would make me join you, Aizen."

He laughed.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he nodded towards Grimmjow.

The blue beast moved to the center of the room and slung the sack onto the couch. It was then that Ichigo realized it wasn't a sack at all. It was…

"Rukia," Ichigo whispered.

She was still wearing the same Arrancar uniform he watched her put on. Everywhere there was skin, she was bruised and cut. The suppression collar was still around her neck and her eyes were closed. She looked like she'd been through hell itself.

He started towards her before being blocked by Grimmjow. Anger coursed like fire through Ichigo's veins.

"Let her go!"

"Now why would I do that, Kurosaki? She is mine. Besides, Granz loves every second he has with her. He lives to learn how everything is made and put together; even if it means taking something apart to figure it out," he smirked.

Ichigo moved to take a swing at Aizen but was easily blocked and then restrained by Grimmjow.

"I believe the boss wanted you to sit," Grimmjow said as he picked up Ichigo by his collar and threw him on the couch opposite of Rukia and Aizen.

"I can give you everything you've ever wanted and more. Power, fame, fortune…your friends and family." He gave a nod to Grimmjow who opened the basement door and turned the light on.

Yammi appeared in the doorway holding Ishida and Inoue under each arm. They looked worn and tired, but otherwise unhurt. Granz appeared next holding onto two little forms. Ichigo's eyes grew wide as he realized who he was holding.

"Yuzu! Karin!" He stood up again before feeling a pair of strong hands grip his shoulders and force him back to the couch.

"As you can see, I've obtained a few more people for a proper reunion," Aizen said.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue said. She and Ishida were set down, but were restrained by Yammi.

"What do you want, Aizen?"

"I want you by my side. I want you to fight with me against Soul Society. I want you to lead my new army to victory!" He smiled and sat down next to Rukia. "Did you see the room you awoke in? Once Soul Society is defeated I can make it so that she is by your side forever. Would you like that? Or, you can rot in my prison while your family and friends are tortured and tested on by Granz." He finished as he pulled on her hair, lifting her head and shoulders up off the couch.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "If I fight for you, you will release them?"

"Of course," he said as he smile grew wider.

"NO! Don't you dare, Kurosaki!" Ishida yelled.

Ichigo looked at his sisters, "What choice do I have, Ishida! He has you, Inoue, my sisters, Rukia…Wasn't the whole point of coming here to save Inoue? Now my sisters are here, I will NOT let these bastards harm them!"

"So we are in agreement?"

Ichigo hung his head low.

"No!" Ishida protested.

"NO!" Inoue screamed.

Aizen nodded to Granz who set the girls down. He stepped back and put his hands together. In a swift motion he opened his arms wide. The room ripped apart as the Garganta opened.

"You are free to go," Aizen said as he addressed Ishida, "Take the woman and the children."

Ishida picked up the girls and walked to the gate. He motioned for Inoue who stood stock still.

"Inoue?"

"No! I'm not leaving Kurosaki-kun! I won't!"

A female Arrancar picked up Inoue and threw her over her shoulders. She proceeded to the Garganta as Inoue kicked and screamed. Another Arrancar, the one with the bone across her mouth, took the girls from Ishida and followed the one who held Inoue.

Ishida made a move to touch Rukia as Aizen's sword moved in front of her, blocking the way.

"No. Kuchiki was not part of the deal."

"What?" Ichigo said as he stood.

"I told you before, I was not going to let her go."

"The deal is off, Aizen!"

"Oh? I'll have Granz start with the little blonde then. What was her name? Yuzu?"

"No! Don't you touch her!" He stood up again and lunged for Aizen. Grimmjow was on him before he made it half way.

Aizen stood up as Grimmjow snapped Ichigo's arms behind him.

"The deal has been made," Aizen said, "It's time to make preparations." He nodded at the nameless Arrancar as they proceeded through the Garganta against Inoue and Ishida's protests.

Granz eyed Rukia, still unconscious on the couch.

"You'll have to finish that test later. I want her alive, for now."

Ichigo felt sick as Aizen spoke those words. He noticed Granz scowl before Yammi picked up the small body off the couch.

They opened the door and went down a long dark hallway. When they finally reached the door on the other side Aizen turned.

"Yammi, I want you to take her back to the cell. Grimmjow, take our new fighter to the lab."

* * *

><p>Ichigo found himself strapped to the table by his arms, torso and legs. Even his head was in some sort of contraption he couldn't move.<p>

"Ah, this is going to be fun." Granz said as he eyed the many test tubes he had on display before him. He was standing next to the table Ichigo was on, back to him, looking at rows and rows of colorful vials of liquids. He stopped scanning when his eyes fell upon the purple one. "Indeed. This won't hurt, much, Kurosaki." He said with a small laugh.

"What are you planning?"

"We're going to give your hollow a bit of an advantage."

"What? I said I would fight for Aizen! No one said anything about bringing my hollow out!"

"Humph, did you think for one second that Aizen trusts you? Do you think you're actually strong enough on your own to do the things Aizen needs done?" He laughed.

"**Heh, he's got a point there, king. Let me out and I can take care of everything."**

"No!"

Granz pulled the vial as an alarm sound went off. He put the vial back and sighed.

"Don't move," he said as he laughed himself out of the lab. His assistants followed and Ichigo was left alone.

He struggled against the straps, hoping to free himself. Frustrated and pissed off, he sighed. He contemplated his hollows idea of just letting him run rampant, just long enough to get out of there.

"Be still and don't move!" He heard a familiar voice say. His eyes widened.

"Rukia! How?"

"Shh!" He felt her small hands work the straps that held him down. Soon he was free. She picked up a pronged tool and smiled.

"Is that what we've been looking for?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes, but we shouldn't use it here. Aizen's goons are too close."

Ichigo stood and walked to the other end of the lab. He picked up Zangetsu and handed Rukia Sode no Shirayuki. The weight felt good in his hands. Something he's been missing for a while.

"Come on," She said as she took his hand in hers and led him down several hallways. They walked for quite a while before reaching an older section of Los Noches. Rukia turned to Ichigo and pulled out the tool.

With a blast of reiatsu, Ichigo's collar slid off. She offered him the tool and turned around. Another, smaller blast of reiatsu flashed as her collar slipped from her neck.

"Do your best to suppress it. You're not at full strength yet, but it should return to full level once we get out of here." She looked around, "Aizen shouldn't be able to track us."

He gave her a puzzled look.

"Do you recognize the material lining these walls?"

Ichigo walked to the wall and touched it. "It's the same stuff that's in the tower you were locked up in."

"Yes, it absorbs the reiatsu. Aizen won't be able to find us that way." She looked at the three paths ahead, confused.

"Which way?"

"I don't know."

"What? Why not?" he asked, irritated.

"Because every time I've broken out I've been looking for you, not a way out!" she yelled. She was agitated and frustrated. Her plan to free him went without a hitch, but now, she was lost.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. He knew she had sacrificed herself every time she escaped to save his ass and knew he spoke out of turn. He took a deep breath.

"Let's go down the middle one," he said.

Rukia looked at him.

"What?"

"Why the middle one?"

"I don't know. Do you know what's down there?"

Rukia frowned. "If I did, don't you think I would know if that was a good path?"

Ichigo stopped. "Um…yeah, I guess so." He watched as she crouched down and put her hands over her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just…can't wait to get out of here."

Ichigo helped her back up and took her in his arms.

"It'll be better now. Without those collars, we have a chance now."

Rukia buried her face in his chest.

"I'm just glad you're safe, Ichigo. I don't know what I would do…"

"Shhh, I'm not going anywhere."

Ichigo stepped back and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Hey!" he said as his eyes met hers. "We're going to get out of this and we're going to do it together."

She sniffed and nodded. Definitely not Kuchiki like.

"The middle one?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Together they set off down the middle path. Ichigo found a torch that Rukia lit with kido. They made their way through the winding path that seemed to go on for miles. Their conversation was light as they mainly listened for any dangers up ahead or coming from behind.

Finally they reached a dead end.

"What the hell?" Ichigo asked as he touched the wall, preventing them from going any further.

"Up there!" Rukia pointed. Indeed, there was a hatch type door in the ceiling above where they were standing.

Ichigo looked at Rukia who nodded. He put his hands together as she climbed onto his shoulders.

"I can't move it! It won't open!" She said as she pushed and pulled on the handle.

Ichigo set her down. She gently pushed him out of the way as she brought her hands up.

"Hado Sanju san Sokatsui!" A wave of blue lightening shot from her hands completely obliterating the door. Ichigo pulled her out of the way as pieces of the door and a ton of sand came crashing in.

When the dust settled, Ichigo climbed onto the huge sand pile which helped him reach the hole in the ceiling. He popped his head through. They were miles from the castle with nothing around but the endless night lit by the crescent moon.

He pulled himself up before helping Rukia out.

Rukia looked around. Nothing but sand and darkness as far as the eye could see.

"We should find shelter before nightfall," Ichigo suggested. Rukia snorted.

"Nightfall?" She said as she gestured outwards.

"You know what I mean." She nodded and gave him a hint of a smile.

As they set out, Ichigo noticed Rukia wasn't able to keep up. She stumbled several times and had lost her footing on the sugary, slippery sand often as well. Ichigo frowned and scanned the area. In the distance he could make out what looked like a tree line. They could make camp there. He turned and looked at Rukia. She was tired and worn, yet didn't complain.

"What are you doing?" She demanded as he held his hands out behind him.

"What does it look like? Come on, let me carry you for a while. I see something that might make for some shelter over there, but I don't think you'll make it."

"I'm perfectly fine! I can…" she said as she walked in the opposite direction and stumbled. Admitting defeat she used his help and climbed on his back. Ichigo was surprised at how light she was. Lighter than he remembered. He had to get them out.

* * *

><p>It was, in fact an island of trees that surrounded a cave. Ichigo's tired mind suspected some sort of set up, but at this point, with Rukia sleeping on his back, he didn't have a choice. The wind was picking up as another sandstorm was about to start. He hurried to the entrance of the cave and cautiously went inside.<p>

It was empty.

And dark.

He carefully let Rukia slide down his back, catching her before she was completely on the ground. He laid her down near the entrance of the cave. If they had to run, he wanted to be ready. He sat down beside her and put his hands on his head. Inoue, his sisters and Ishida were safe. He had to get Rukia out of here. He had to protect his family.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Been a while, I know… I had to re-read the story so I could keep myself straight :P **

**Might I add that Renji is just absolutely awesome in this weeks manga! I love love love him! (Yeah, I know, I make him the bad guy in a lot of my fics…)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

"He's coming around now."

"Oh thank God!"

"It's about time."

"Shh!"

Ichigo heard the voices and struggled with his eyelids. Finally, they cracked open and slowly everything came into focus.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked, his voice cracking from non-use. He looked around and was confused about his surroundings. He was home, in his bed. Inoue, Ishida, Chad and his sisters were there…all staring at him. He tried to get up, but felt a firm hand on his chest, pushing him back down.

"You've been unconscious for a long time. You'll need to take it easy, Kurosaki-kun," Inoue said as tears started to well up in her eyes. Ichigo blinked a few times, making the image clearer. This had to be a dream or another illusion. _Why the hell is this happening again?_

"I'm ok, Inoue," he said gently as he removed her hand and sat up again. He looked into the faces of his friends and family. If it were an illusion then he might as well play along until he could figure out what was going on. "What happened?"

"You defeated Aizen then passed out," Ishida said. "You went all out. Urahara said you would be out for a while. He said you lost your Shinigami powers as a result."

"What? No. I…"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Ishida asked.

"Nnoitora. I fought with him."

"Kuchiki-taicho and Kenpachi-taicho finished that fight so you could save Inoue." Ichigo looked at him and remembered. He remembered the cavalry, remembered his hollow fight, remembered returning to Karakura with Unohana-san, remembered the three months of training, and remembered defeating Aizen. It fit. Somewhere deep inside it clicked. But…

Ichigo shook his head and looked around. "Rukia. Where's Rukia?" The room was quiet.

"You lost your Shinigami powers, remember? You're not going to be able to see or feel any of them anymore."

"Is she here?" He asked again. This time Inoue's tears fell as more appeared. They went from joy to sadness.

"I'll go tell dad Ichi-nii is awake."

"I'll come with you," Karin said following her sister out of the room.

Ichigo put a hand to his head as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Please, where's Rukia?"

Ishida closed his eyes. "We should wait for your dad or Kisuke-san to get here."

Ichigo turned his head, "Inoue? What happened to Rukia?" The question only made her cry harder. "Chad?"

Silence.

Frustrated, Ichigo stood up, opened his door to find Urahara standing there.

"Hey, hey! It's nice to see you up and about finally!" He said as he walked in. His father was right behind him.

"Would someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Ichigo demanded. "Where is Rukia?"

"Ichigo…" His father said as he pushed his son back in the room. He motioned for him to sit back on the bed. He complied. "She's gone, son."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone? Where?"

"When you came back to the living world, she and a few others stayed behind to clean up the rest of Aizen's forces. Her reiatsu was already weak from her previous battles and although healed, she was nowhere near fighting capable." Ichigo's eyes grew. "Renji tried to protect her when the mass of hollows descended upon the small group, but…"

"No," Ichigo whispered. "Aizen has her, she's still alive!"

"You defeated Aizen, remember?" Ichigo's eyes burned and he was having trouble breathing. His gut was telling him they were right. This was the right order of events. "He's locked away in Soul Society."

"No!"

"I'm sorry, son, but Rukia is dead."

"NO! I'm telling you!" Ichigo jumped back up and stood toe to toe with his father. "She's alive! She fought with the Espada, they tried to put her under an illusion, but the Hogyoku wouldn't let them. She was immune. Granz…Granz hurt her, experimented on her but she kept escaping to find me. To protect me!" He was getting worked up as he gripped his father's collar. "She saw through the illusions they tried to put me under. She saw through them and got me out. We made it out of Los Noches, we got to a cave." His eyes widened, "I need to get back! She's alone out there, hurt and by herself in the middle of Hueco Mundo!"

A whistle was heard.

"That was some dream," Urahara said. Ichigo lunged at the man as his father caught and restrained him.

"It wasn't a dream! She was there! She was THERE!"

"Calm down, Ichigo!"

"I've got to get back! I've got to save Rukia! She's in no condition to defend herself in that place." Isshin nodded towards Chad and Ishida who helped restrain Ichigo. Isshin plunged a needle into the side of his neck, rendering him unconscious.

"Well now," Urahara said with a sigh. "I need to get back to my shop and look into a few things," he said as he made his way towards the door.

"Wait! What things?" Isshin asked.

"Oh, it's probably nothing."

"But it could be something…" he pressed.

Urahara looked at his friend. "It could be something, but I'm not telling you until I know for sure." He looked at Ichigo. "keep him close."

Inoue turned to Ishida. "What's going to happen to Kurosaki-kun?" She asked with tears still in her eyes.

"I don't know. That was some wild tale."

"It was like he never left Hueco Mundo," Chad said as he looked at his friend.

"How could he have forgotten what happened?"

"I don't know. I hope Urahara-san can figure it out."

* * *

><p>Ichigo woke up in the cave. Rukia's battered and bruised body was right where he left her. He sat up and shook his head. "What a dream."<p>

"Wh-what?" Rukia asked, still dazed from sleep. Ichigo scooted so he was sitting next to her as she sat up. He pulled her into his lap and stroked her hair.

"Nothing, it was nothing. It was just a dream." He felt her nod as she laid her head down on his chest.

"What happens now, Ichigo?"

"Now, we find our way out of here."

"We need to open a Garganta, we can't do that ourselves," she said. Ichigo looked at her.

"What if you can't make it though? What if that Ishida thing was right? What if Granz did something to you?"

"_You've never had the Hogyoku inside of you. If she comes with us, this whole place will be alerted and the gate won't let her pass."_

"_What do you mean the gate won't let her pass?"_

"_Some of the things Granz did to her. He modified her soul so that she could no longer pass through the gate without her soul particles being torn apart. She might as well be one of them, Ichigo. She can never leave."_

Rukia looked away.

"What about the others in Soul Society?" He asked as his mind didn't want to entertain the previous thought.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know how much time has passed since we started our mission to rescue Inoue. It seems like forever. I thought for sure others would come by now..." She stopped talking and bit her lip. In spite of sleep, she was physically and mentally exhausted, but that didn't give her the excuse to break down. Not now.

Ichigo tried to connect the time line based on what she said and discount frivolous memories as dreams or part of Aizen's illusions. His head hurt.

"We'll have to make a plan without them."

"I know." He leaned his head back on the cave wall and thought. He shuddered as he remembered his dream and looked at the tiny woman in his lap.

"_Her reiatsu was already weak from her previous battles and although healed, she was nowhere near fighting capable. Renji tried to protect her when the mass of hollows descended upon the small group…"_

"_She's gone."_

His grip on her instinctively grew tighter. Rukia closed her eyes. She didn't have the heart to tell him of the things Granz and Aizen had done to her. She knew the Arrancar posing as Ishida was right. Her soul was modified; she would never be able to leave Hueco Mundo. She also knew she loved Ichigo with all of her being. That meant getting him out of there and back into the human world where he belonged. That's all that mattered to her regardless if she was destroyed in the process. If she could get him back, the others would be there; they could help him defeat Aizen.

"First things first, we need to find some water, maybe some food." Ichigo said as he changed the subject.

"Ichigo…" She shifted so that she was facing him, "I want you to promise me something. I want you to promise me that you will make it back to your world and that you will live a long and happy life."

Ichigo frowned, "Rukia…"

"Promise me!" She said sternly, her violet eyes serious. This was important to her. Ichigo looked away but Rukia reached up and cupped the side of his face, gently pulling him back so that he would look at her.

"I'm not leaving here without you, that I promise!" He vowed.

"Fool! Don't you see how important you are? Don't you see how important it is to get back?" Ichigo's eyes grew in understanding before they narrowed.

"Ishida was right and you knew it. You can't cross over can you?"

It was Rukia's turn to look away. She stood up and walked a few feet away from him. Quickly he was right behind her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Can you?" Ichigo said louder. Rukia cringed.

"No," she whispered.

"What did they do?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter! Damn it, Rukia! Tell me what they did to you! Everything!"

"What difference does it make? What's done is done!" She fired back.

"What did they do?" He asked again, his voice low.

"I don't know!" She screamed as she fell down to her knees. She was finally at her breaking point. Ichigo saw it in her eyes. Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper when she spoke. "After I found you in the hospital illusion and was caught the first time, they suspected the Hogyoku had something to do with my ability to see through what was going on. Granz and Aizen ran tests and tried to perform illusions; nasty, perverted illusions. They were angry his ability wouldn't work on me. I was restrained and..." A small sob interrupted her tale. Ichigo took her hand and closed his eyes.

"Rukia…" he said. Emotions were swarming within him. They never should have separated; he never should have gone along with it. Fuck warrior pride! She never would have been-

"I didn't know if any of our group was left. I knew about Chad and R-Renji, but…" She paused and looked at him. "They told me…They told me you rescued Inoue and went back. They taunted me, telling me you left me behind. I was…I was of no use to you. I couldn't take it anymore, I was going to escape or die trying. That was when I found you. Once I knew you were there. I had to make you realize you were under Aizen's power but I couldn't get away.

"The experiments continued. Out of frustration, they tried to turn me into a hollow. They brought me to the brink of death, but for some reason, Aizen changed his mind. It was later I found out he needed me to get to the Hogyoku, to make it do what he wanted. He needed a stronger army. He needed Espada who would be unstoppable. They kept me sedated for the most part. I don't know what they did, or how they did it, but I woke up and I felt…different. Aizen was smiling. They had figured out how to get what they needed but they needed me. Granz performed his greatest achievement he said. I escaped the second time and found you."

"That was when the alarm went off. You shoved me through a door."

Rukia looked at him like he was stupid. "They couldn't know you were figuring things out. They would have just killed you." She sighed and closed her eyes, "After I was caught, they brought me back to Aizen. He opened a Garganta and said I could go. When I didn't move, they shoved me though. It was the worst pain I had ever felt. I looked down and I was…I was…c-coming apart!" She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head against the memory. "Aizen grabbed me and pulled me back. He told me he made it so I could never leave. I belonged to him." A tear fell down the side of her face as she finished.

"That's why you were so injured when I found you in bed." Rukia nodded. Ichigo was beside himself with anger and frustration. He stood up and started to pace back and forth. They hurt her, they humiliated her and worst of all, they changed her, broke her, used her.

"_She might as well be one of them, Ichigo. She can never leave."_

"_She will NEVER be one of them! Do you understand? I know you don't think much of Shinigami's and the only reason you came was to rescue Inoue, but I'm not leaving without Rukia. If she can't leave, then neither will I." _

"_Neither will I."_

"Neither will I," Ichigo said. Rukia looked up and dried her face.

"What?"

Ichigo felt trapped in the tiny cave. He needed out, he needed air, he needed to kick the shit out of Aizen for what he's done. He reigned in his seething anger and looked at her. She gazed at him with her big violet eyes and just like that he was calm.

He went to her and wrapped his arms around her. "We'll figure this out. I'll get you out of here. I'll-"

"Ichigo," she said as she put her hand gently over his mouth to stop him. "Don't waste your time worrying about me. Please. I've already accepted my fate. What's important is getting you back and winning this war."

Ichigo placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back so she could look at him. "Why do you always do that? Why are you so ready to give up and die for me?" His eyes were piercing, her breath hitched.

"Because…I…Because there are more important things out there than what I want!" she said pushing him away and standing up. She walked to the front of the cave and looked out.

"Don't you walk away!" He said as he chased after her, "That doesn't make sense! What do you want?"

She stood firm and shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"It does!"

"Ichigo!"

"Rukia, tell me…"

She couldn't, could she? She made the mistake of looking at him. She was lost in his soft amber eyes. How she loved his eyes, his confidence. Whatever he put his mind to he would go all the way to accomplish it breaking everyone and everything in his way. Right now he was determined to know her feelings. Fine, whatever, it didn't matter. She was still going to get him home. With every ounce of courage she had, "I love you."

Ichigo was shocked to hear those words from her mouth. This was Rukia, the no nonsense Shinigami who suppressed things like feelings. Dismissed them as something not needed on the battlefield. A battlefield she never left since being born into death.

He stood there. She looked away and headed outside. What did she expect? She bit her lip as she looked out into the darkness. Thankfully she didn't see or hear any hollow activity, but knew the peacefulness wouldn't last long. She jumped as Ichigo stood beside her and put his arm around her. She didn't look at him.

"I think maybe over there, in the distance…that might be a patch of grass," she said as she pointed to her left. "Where there's grass, there might be water."

"Rukia."

"We should get going before we're found," she said as she started out.

"Rukia," he said again. She ignored him and continued walking. "Would you stop for a minute?"

"No, we've wasted enough time."

"Then we'll waste some more!" he said as he picked her up and held her.

"Ichigo, stop this! Put me down this instant!" she yelled as she kicked and punched him. The more she hit, the tighter he held her. He dared to look at her and saw she was crying. "Let me go!"

"Never. I will never let you go, I will never leave you behind! I love you, Rukia."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Warning – this chapter contains lemons... A small lemon… (Who came up with that? How can someone even associate the two? A lemon is equal to sex… uh-huh… "Honey, let's have lemons tonight!" Yeah… He would look at me like I lost my mind…)**

**Seriously – does anyone know why it's referred to as a lemon? And what's a lime? Darn, now I need to go make some lemonade… Or does that have a double meaning to? I'm so confused…**

**And I just noticed the rating for this story is a T – Since writing this chapter I changed it to M… Sorry about that. It's a very small lemon, but enough to make it an M…**

**And Happy Birthday to me! As a flip I'm giving you an extra long chapter...**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

"Never. I will never let you go; I will never leave you behind! I love you, Rukia."

She stopped hitting him and looked at him. She was about to tell him if that were true he would have said it sooner but her voice caught. His eyes stopped her. She knew he was serious.

"If you love me then you will leave me here. You have to go back. You can't stay here. What are you supposed to do, live out here in this cave for the rest of your life?"

"We could go back to the Forrest of Menos. Try and find Ashido's hide out. I mean, he was able to live here for over 100 years, right?"

Rukia gave him an odd look. "The exit was blocked off, remember?"

"So we keep going, we'll find other shelter."

"Ichigo…" She said as she looked at him. "We need to go back. We'll find one of them, make them open a Garganta and…"

"And what? Don't even think you're going to send me back without you." He said as he put his arm around her small waist. "We've talked about this before. Even if I were to leave you, how are you going to survive? Alone?" He shook his head.

"Why do you have to be such a stubborn fool!"

"Why do you?" he countered. She looked at him, shocked.

"You have to defeat Aizen. That's what's important."

"I will, but I will do it here," he said more determined than ever. Rukia felt the familiar feeling course though her. He radiated confidence, assurance. Just like when he rescued her. How she admired him. How she loved him. Baka.

" You have to save your family, your friends, everyone you love and care about."

"What about you? I love and care about you," he said.

"I'm not as important as they are."

"The hell you're not!" He said as he shook her slightly. "If the situation was reversed would you leave me?" He knew the answer before she said it. She had already proven that. She had ample opportunity to escape and avoid those experiments, but because of him, she chose to stay. His mind was blown away.

"No," she said without hesitation.

"Then how can you possibly expect me to leave you here?"

"That's different…"

"How?" He demanded.

"You have your father, you have your sisters, you have your friends who love and care about you," she said as she thought of Inoue. "You have a future! You're still a human with a long life to live."

Ichigo shook his head. "My sisters have my father, my friends have each other. They don't need me. Not as much as I need you."

Rukia looked at him. "You can't stay here and I can't go with you," she said sadly. Ichigo pulled her in and tightened his arms around her.

"I'll find a way," he said as he brought his mouth down and covered hers.

"Ichigo…" she gasped between kisses. She slipped her tiny arms around him and tilting her head. Heat coursed through her body from his kiss, she moaned softly.

Ichigo broke the kiss and looked into her violet orbs. One emotion stood out among the rest. Desire. That was all he needed to see as he scooped her up and brought her back inside the cave. He gently laid her down on the floor by the back wall where they slept earlier. He kissed her again. This time it was deeper, more urgent. He felt her tiny hands working the knot on his clothing. His erection grew.

She felt the fire in her belly grow as he kissed her. Her body responded with such urgency it shocked her. She was fumbling with his knot before she knew what she was doing.

He brought his hands up and slipped one through the fabric of the Arrancar uniform and cupped her breast. She moaned at his touch and arched her back. He kissed her then moved his mouth to her breast. She finished with the knot and gave it a tug; his hakama fell to his knees. She looked down and saw that he was at full attention.

Ichigo quickly sat up, pulling her dress with him, leaving her bare and exposed. She looked at him with huge violet eyes. He paused as he saw the extent of her bruises. She was covered from head to toe. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. She pulled on what was left of his tattered kosode. He gave her a soft smile before shrugging it off.

Rukia brought her legs up and wrapped them around his torso as he lay back down on top of her. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. She entwined his hair between her fingers as she traced his lips with her tongue.

Ichigo couldn't stand the strain any more. He settled himself between her thighs and paused at her entrance. He opened his eyes, making sure she was ok. He gasped as she brought her hips up, taking him inside. She cried out as he filled her.

"Are you ok?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm fine! I'm fine," she breathed.

Slowly and gently, he pumped in and out of her, being careful not to hurt her. Her already tight walls clamped down as she let out a moan. Ichigo picked up the pace a bit. He couldn't believe how wonderful this felt. She was beautiful and she was his. He claimed her mouth again as his climax started to build. Rukia gasped and called his name as she was consumed by wave after wave of pleasure. Hearing her call his name was enough to send him over the edge as he spilled his seed into her.

Spent and trying to catch his breath, he rolled over so as not to crush her. He pulled her naked body close. Rukia curled up and snuggled against his warmth. She took comfort in the rhythm of his beating heart. She didn't want to think about the future when she would send him back.

"Ichigo?" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," she said as she closed her eyes.

"Che," he said as he played with her hair. "That's my line."

They lay together each taking comfort in the other as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki-kun!'<p>

Ichigo opened his eyes. Inoue was standing next to his bed, her soft grey eyes on his.

"Rukia?" He blinked a few times, trying to clear his eyes and his mind. "Inoue," he said when he realized it was her that was staring at him. He was back in his room. He looked out the window. The sun was just starting to set. He remembered his previous dream. His friends, his father…Rukia wasn't alive in this dream. He blinked a few more times before sitting up.

"Kurosaki-kun?" She was instantly by his side, holding his hand. He looked over at Inoue. Was it Inoue? His mind asked him. He felt her arms around him as she threw herself at him.

"I'm so thankful you're awake!" she said.

"Inoue," he said as he gently pried her off of him.

"I w-w-was s-s-o w-w-worried! You k-keep passing out and l-leaving us!" She said. Ichigo eyed the orange haired girl. She looked horrible. She was tired and worn.

"Inoue, how long have you been here?" She blushed.

"Since you defeated Aizen. Your father was kind enough to let me stay here and watch over you. I…um…I brought you something to eat," she said as she picked up a bowl of rice that was sitting on his desk.

"I'm not hungry," he said, turning to looking outside.

"Kurosaki-kun, it's been a really long time since you've eaten. Even when you woke up last time…"

"How long was I out?"

"A few days."

Ichigo closed his eyes. The dream was moving forward in time? He shook his head. Aizen had to be behind this. But that would mean he was back in his lab. That would mean they were caught. He had to find a way out. He wouldn't let them hurt Rukia again.

He turned and swung his legs out of bed.

"Wh-Where are you going?" Inoue said.

"I'm getting up." As he stood, his legs were wobbly. Inoue gently pushed him back onto the bed.

"Please don't do that. You need to gain your strength first. Here," she said as she picked up the bowl again. She used the hashi and brought some rice up to his mouth for him to eat. Ichigo looked at the food before looking at her.

"I told you, I'm not eating." After what happened in the cell, he didn't trust eating anything. Tears welled up in her eyes. He saw the concern in them and looked away. "Where's Aizen?"

Inoue was shocked by the question.

"He-he's in Soul Society. He-he's been locked up since you defeated him." Ichigo looked at her. The same feeling he had of this being "right" returned. He pushed it aside. He needed to see Rukia. Being immune, she would be able to tell him what was going on.

Ichigo watched for what seemed like a long time before he said, "Tell me, what happened after my fight with Nnoitora?"

Inoue sat down in the chair by his bed. She wasn't sure if she should tell him everything, but maybe it would help him remember. Maybe it would help him accept that Rukia was gone and that he could move on. Maybe he would move on with her. Yes, he would grieve for Rukia, but she would be there for him every minute of every day. She would support him and love him and one day, when he was ready, he would move on and leave the memory of Rukia behind. He would move on with her.

"Kenpachi-taicho came and finished the fight. Nel, me and you – "

"No," he said as he cut her off. "I mean, what happened to Rukia?"

Orihime swallowed her jealousy and looked at him. "She was hurt pretty badly after her fight with the Espada. Kuchiki-taicho came and rescued her from the others that were sent to finish her off. Insane-sama healed her. She joined back up with Sado-kun and Abarai-kun and they fought Yammy. That was when you were fighting Ulquiorra.

"Yammy easily defeated Abarai-kun and Sado-kun. You had transformed back from your o-o-other f-form and left me with Ishida. You saved Rukia. Kenpachi-taicho and Kuchiki-taicho took on Yammy as the others showed up. You and Unohana went back to Karakura to defeat Aizen.

After you left, it was decided that the weird taicho with the make-up would stay behind and work on a way to get the rest of us back. We split up into two groups to take care of the rest of Aizen's forces. One group stayed behind and helped to defend our area while the others went out. Rukia went with them while I stayed behind. When they came back months later, they were bloody and bruised. I had to heal them, but Kuchiki-san wasn't with them. I asked what happened and that's when Kuchiki-taicho told me she was gone."

Tears were streaming down her face as she finished her tale. She noticed his body was rigid, his hands fisted. "Months? They were there for months?"

"They endured battle after battle. Kuchiki-san and Abarai-kun went out on a scouting mission. It was then Kuchiki-san was overtaken. Abarai-kun tried to help her, tried to save her, but he was overpowered himself. If they hadn't brought him back when they did, I wouldn't have been able to heal him in time."

"Did they…did they bring…"

Her eyes widened, "No. They said…they said…" Inoue broke down and couldn't say anymore. Ichigo was patient and waited while she composed herself. "Kuchiki-taicho said there were so many of them. If they didn't get Abarai-kun back, they would have lost him. Kuchiki-san was too far into the mass, he couldn't reach her."

Ichigo closed his eyes. A choice was made between Renji and Rukia. Renji was chosen and Rukia was left there to suffer her fate of being torn apart and eaten by hollows. Ichigo was beyond furious. He had to keep reminding himself that this was an illusion or a dream. He was still in the cave, he just finished making love to her, she was still alive, she was still with him. He choked back the anger and intense sadness that was threatening to overtake him. She was alive, she was alive, he chanted in his mind.

"You were so brave to face Aizen. You trained inside your inner world for three months. You and your Zanpaktou-" Inoue said as she tried to shift the focus away from Rukia.

"Why were they there for so long without back up?"

Inoue stopped. "There was no one to send…"

"What were you and Ishida doing while they were cleaning up?" He asked as his eyes narrowed.

"I-I-I wanted to h-help, b-but they wouldn't let me. I had to st-stay with Ishida-kun and heal him."

"Heal him from what?"

"F-From you."

Ichigo jumped back in surprise. "Me?"

"Y-your h-hollow," she said as fresh tears streamed down her face.

In a flash, scenes from his fight with Ulquiorra went through his mind. How he died, how he heard Inoue's scream, how his hollow took over. He shook his head. More images came to him, his meeting with his father, being in his inner world with Zangetsu, his final move that defeated Aizen. He remembered it all.

"No," he whispered, "It's not true!" He said as he shook his head. Aizen! It had to be him! He planted these memories in his mind. He…he… He looked at Inoue.

"Take me to Urahara-san. I want to go to Soul Society." Her grey eyes widened.

"You can't!"

"Why?"

"You lost your Shinigami powers when you defeated Aizen," she said as she started to cry. "Please! You have to remember!"

Ichigo sighed.

"It didn't matter when you guys came with me to rescue Rukia. If you were able to go then, I should be able to go now."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Urahara said as he came in. "When your friends went with you, they had abilities of their own. You have nothing."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Then find a way!"

Kisuke snapped open his fan and put it in front of his face. "What do you hope to accomplish?"

"I'm going to put an end to these illusions. I'll make them pay for everything they've done to everyone I care about!" He said as he stood back up.

"What illusions?"

"This, here."

Kisuke's eyebrows went up. "You think this is one of Aizen's illusions?" He almost laughed if he didn't think Ichigo really believed it. Inoue gasped.

"I know it is. You might as well bring him out." Ichigo said.

"I can't do that. He's in Soul Society, like I said. You defeated him, like we've said."

"No!" He said as his hands clenched.

"Aizen has been brought in and tried for his crimes before the Central 46. He has been sentenced and is currently serving his punishment. I assure you, he isn't going anywhere." Kisuke said as he father came in and stood behind him. "You've done us all a great service, which is why I am here at your father's request. There were many casualties during the war; unfortunately Kuchiki-san was one of them. However, thanks to you a lot of people, Shinigami and humans, were saved."

Ichigo shook his head. "I was just with her," he whispered. His fingers tingled at the remembrance of her skin beneath his. "This has to be a dream, an illusion…"

"I assure you, it's not," he replied.

Ichigo looked into his father's sad eyes. It felt real, yet… He put his hands to his now hurting head. It felt like it was splitting apart.

"_Ichigo…"_

He heard a faint voice, it was small and sounded scared. "Did you hear that?" he asked his father. "AAAAGGGGGG!" He screamed as he fell back against the bed.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue yelled.

"_Ichigo!"_

He opened his eyes. "Ru-Rukia…" he said before his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he passed out.

* * *

><p>"I'm worried about Kurosaki-kun," Inoue said, trying to blink back tears that were forming in her grey eyes.<p>

"I know you are," Isshin said as he patted her hand, "We're doing everything we can to figure this out."

"What if he's hurt? What if he never accepts she's gone?" She asked as she lost the battle with her tears.

"He'll be fine," he promised. He looked at his son who seemed to be sleeping peacefully after the odd way he passed out. All of his vitals were normal. He was hooked up to a small IV so that he wouldn't dehydrate.

There was a small knock at the door.

"Ishida-kun!" Inoue said as she ran to him.

"Kurosaki-san, Inoue-san," he said as he gave the appropriate greeting. "I heard our hero woke up?"

"Yeah," Isshin said as he gave a short version of what happened. Isshin looked at the young archer. "When you're done with your visit, I would like to have a word with you before you go." He said quietly as he passed him on the way out of room. Inoue had gone back his Ichigo's bedside and continued her watch, oblivious to Isshin's leaving.

Ishida turned to reply, but the man had already left. He looked at the orange haired woman bent over the man in bed and gave a sad smile. "How are you today, Inoue-san?" He asked gently.

"I-I'm ok. But…"

"But?"

"The way Kurosaki-kun talked about Kuchiki-san, about her still being alive, about him just seeing her…" Tears started to fall again. "What's he going to do once he accepts the truth that she's gone?"

Ishida sighed. "I don't know. As his friends all we can do is be there for him and give him as much support as he'll need."

She nodded in response.

"I'll stop back by tomorrow. You should go home and get some rest."

She nodded again although he knew she wouldn't leave his side. He opened the door and went downstairs to find the elder Kurosaki sitting at the kitchen table. He sat across from him.

"Kisuke has been working on a few theories and is calling a meeting later tonight to go over it. As his friend, I thought you might want to be there."

"Not Inoue-san?"

Isshin smiled sadly, "I don't think I would be able to pry her from his room long enough to go. That might not be a bad thing though depending on what Kisuke has to say."

Ishida nodded.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ichigo…"<em>

"Ichigo, please! Wake up!" Rukia said. Ichigo opened his eyes. He breathed a small sigh of relief as he stared into her violet orbs.

"Rukia?"

"Ichigo, thank god you woke up!" She said she sat back. She was dressed and staring at him.

"What happened?"

"I couldn't wake you up. There's some hollow activity in the distance. I don't know how much time we'll have before they're here."

Ichigo sat up and quickly put the rest of his clothes back on. He grabbed his Zanpaktou and headed to the mouth of the cave.

"Ichigo…There's something I need to tell you."

He scanned the never ending darkness and was able to make out a small dust cloud in the distance. Skirmishes…Someone was fighting. He turned and looked at his partner. She was holding her Zanpaktou in an odd fashion. She looked at him with a helpless look in her eye.

"I can't get to my inner word. Sode no Shirayuki doesn't answer when I try calling. I can't… I can't release Shikai."

Ichigo was surprised, "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "When we retrieved our Zanpaktous I thought something felt different. Something was off. I didn't feel connected with her," she indicated to her sword, "It felt empty and soulless. Ichigo, it feels the same as when I transferred my powers to you."

"But you can still do kido?"

"Yes, but the level has been greatly reduced."

"We'll figure it out. We'll go back to the lab and…"

"And what? Ask Granz to put me back to the way I was?" She squeezed her eyes shut. It was one thing to get Ichigo back to his world and be alone, but to be alone and not be able to fight…

Ichigo wracked his overly tired brain. No matter what they did, they would have to go back to Los Noches. He would rather have waited until they were both able to fight at full capacity, but with this new development, he wasn't sure that would happen. He looked at Rukia who was looking at her Zanpaktou. What the hell did they do to her?

"How are you feeling?"

She looked at him. "I'm fine. A little tired, but better." Ichigo looked outside of the cave again. The dust cloud was a little closer.

"We had better head out if we want to avoid whatever that is," he said as he hung Zangetsu on his back. Rukia nodded as she sheathed her sword.

The pair set out in the opposite direction.

* * *

><p>"You've had long enough to figure this out. What the hell is going on?" Isshin demanded. They were at Urahara's shop in one of the back rooms. There was a table with a tea set on it. Four cups were poured. Isshin, Ishida, Kisuke and Byakuya were sitting around the table.<p>

"He believes with his entire soul that Rukia is alive," Kisuke said as he tiled his head down, hat covering his eyes. "In a way, he may be right." Byakuya put down the tea cup and stared at the ex-captain.

"It was something I was working on alongside the Hogyoku project. I knew I would never be allowed to test on human souls so I came up with the idea of creating an inter-dimensional split."

"You think Rukia is trapped in another dimension?" Byakuya asked.

"Where Aizen is still running around?" Isshin asked.

"Yes. Ichigo remembers his mission up to a certain point. According to the time line and data gathered from the 12th, this would have put it a while after Rukia ended her fight with the Espada. Now, suppose instead of you and the others getting there in time to save them," he looked at Byakuya, "Rukia was captured and brought in for an experiment. Something happens and a new dimension is created. The current time line proceeds and plays out as we know it. In the other dimension, something else played out entirely. Ichigo said Rukia was being tortured and experimented on so there is no telling what kind of progress they have made with the Hogyoku by now."

"That crazy!" Isshin said.

"The war is still going on over there," Kisuke tried to continue.

"What proof do you have?"

"None, only Ichigo's word and my own notes. For some reason, Ichigo is able to pass through to the other dimension through consciousness."

"So he has a body here and one there?" Ishida asked.

"Something like that."

"When he said he was just with my sister…"

"He really was. Only in another dimension."

"Rukia…" Byakuya said.

"Is there a way to bring her over?" Isshin asked. Kisuke looked at him.

"No. Theoretically, she would need a body here to share a conscious with."

"A gigai?"

"Is not the same. A gigai needs a soul just like a conscience. I can't build her a soul."

"How do we keep Ichigo from jumping between dimensions?"

"There's a spell I've been working on along with a drug that would sever his connection. However, once he's here, he won't be able to go back. The spell would, in fact, destroy the other dimension and everything…and everyone, in it."

The room was quiet.

"No."

All eyes turned to Byakuya.

"I will not let my sister be destroyed a second time."

"With all due respect, you're missing the point," Ishida said. "That dimension wasn't supposed to exist. By some crazy accident, it does. We can't afford to let it continue. If the Aizen over there figures it out, he could find a way of coming over here. It'll be war all over again. We have to destroy it now while we still can."

Byakuya closed his eyes before standing. "I will inform Soul Society of this new development. If Aizen figures this out, there could still be some kind of trouble. We should prepare ourselves. Until I return, you are to do nothing to that dimension." He said with his cold grey eyes fixated on Kisuke.

He nodded in return, "You have my word."

Byakuya opened the gate to Soul Society and left.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Here's a shameful plug for my new one-shot "Regrets"… I'm not plugging for reviews, just views :P **

**Thank you all for your kind reviews for this story! It's nice to shake things up once in a while with something off the wall and confusing. It'll become clearer as we go… maybe…**

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

They trudged through the white sands for hours, each lost in their own thoughts. Each worried about the other. Emotions on the battlefield were dangerous.

The view of the sky never changed. The darkness only offset by a small glow from the false paper like moon. Hill after hill of white sands stretched out in front of them, their cave and Los Noches far behind.

"_**Pathetic! Why are you running, king?"**_

Ichigo gasped as his hollow's voice rang through his mind. Rukia looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing. Keep going," he said as he urged her forward. A wrinkle creased her brow. She wasn't buying it and stood her ground.

"_**Stop ignoring me! Do you want me to pull you in here?"**_

"Not now!" Ichigo said.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said as she stood in front of his face. His face showed he was miles away in thought. Rukia waited for a few minutes watching his face.

"_**Let me out! I'll take care of every last one of them for what they've done! The Princess and the Quincy were hurt because of him!"**_

"They were hurt because of you!" He yelled. Rukia jumped back. Immediately her guilt returned. She knew he wasn't talking to her, but it didn't matter. Everything that has happened share one thing in common – if it were not for her existence… Ichigo would be back in the human world, studying for exams. Nii-sama wouldn't have such heartache when it came to dealing with the clan. Renji…Renji would still be alive along with Sado. She closed her eyes. She didn't create the Hogyoku, but because of her actions, everything was set in motion.

She had to atone, she had to put things right.

"_**Are you going to keep running, coward? They'll find you, they'll catch you and they'll use what's left of **_**her**_** until she's dead. Do you want that? Her soul used up until there's nothing left? She's already half the Shinigami she used to be. I can smell it. They've changed her."**_

Rukia jumped as he snapped back and grabbed her shoulders. "Rukia…" he whispered as he closed his eyes.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" She asked, worry in her voice.

"Rukia, these past couple of days…I've been having these strong dreams."

She looked at him and waited for him to continue.

"In my dream, I wake up and I'm back home. Everyone is there, telling me I've defeated Aizen, telling me I'm some kind of hero. Everyone is there…except for you."

Rukia's brows rose. "Oh? Where am I?"

"Dead. They said you were killed."

"Where?"

"Here."

"How?"

"In my dream, I asked Inoue to tell me what happened. She said your brother, Kenpachi and a few others came through as a rescue party." Ichigo finished his tale. Rukia was quiet for a long time before a frown creased her face.

"Those are some strong dreams," she said. "Do you think it could be a result of something Aizen or Granz has done?"

"Like an illusion?"

"No. Not necessarily an illusion, but memory modifiers and enhancers."

"Why would he do that?"

"A false sense of security?" She looked at his skeptical face. "If you really believed the war was over, would you fight as hard?"

Ichigo frowned as understanding took hold.

Rukia looked around. They were a long way away from anything and close to nothing. There was a small patch of grass in the distance. She was hoping grass meant water. If they didn't get some soon, they would be taken out of the war without Aizen lifting a finger. "Come on, let's check out that section over there," she said as she pointed to the grassy area just ahead.

As they headed in that direction, they heard the unmistakable sound of a hollow's wail. It was close. Immediately they both drew their swords and readied their stance. Ichigo looked at Rukia.

"Stay behind me!"

"What?"

"I said stay behind me. Let me take care of it!"

Rukia looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "I can take care of myself!"

"Not as you are, now stay behind me!" he hollered as the sound grew louder. The hollow made its appearance, but it was not alone. Three of various shapes and sizes came up over the dune; all focused on the two Shinigami.

Ichigo jumped ahead, taking on the biggest one in the middle. He swung and missed as it quickly dodged out of his reach. "He's fast!"

"They're in their element here – they're stronger, baka! Be careful!" Rukia said as the second hollow came down to the side of her, cutting her off from being able to help Ichigo.

The hollows separated the two soul reapers. Divide and conquer.

The third hollow was the smallest of the three. It changed positions and sat in the middle. It resembled a cat with wings. It had a long sharp bony tail that flicked back and forth as it watched the fights.

After missing his strike, Ichigo turned and brought Zangetsu up to strike again. This time, he hit his mark. The large elephant looking hollow disappeared as Ichigo frantically looked around for Rukia.

Rukia was fighting her own battle with a horse like creature. It had two protruding horns out of its face mask which was charging a cero.

"Rukia!" Ichigo called out. He headed in her direction but was stopped by the third hollow. It's tail flicking. "I don't have time for this!" He said as he brought Zangetsu up. His strike missed. The cat like creature ducked its head at the last minute, but wasn't able to completely dodge. Ichigo severed its front paw.

It landed and screamed in rage.

Rukia brought her sword up and managed to cut off one of the horns before the cero could completely form. She brought her sword back down on top of the creatures head. As it disappeared she heard the third hollow scream in rage and turned.

It landed, screamed and whipped its tail around, knocking Ichigo in the back pushing him towards the hollow. Rukia's eyes grew as Ichigo wasn't able to stop his momentum. He was heading right towards the hollows overly stretched open mouth. She threw her hands up.

"Hado san ju san, Sokatsui!" She yelled. As the blue fire hit the hollow, the blast forced Ichigo back. He hit the ground hard, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

><p>It was early morning when Ichigo awoke. The sun was just over the horizon. It was going to be a clear, beautiful day. He sat up and noticed Inoue asleep in his chair, slumped over and drooling on his desk. He shook his head and swung his legs out from under the covers. He reached over and shut off the IV fluid. He waited a few seconds before pulling out the tubes in his arm.<p>

He quietly stood up and padded over to his bedroom door. His room was always in these latest dreams. He wondered if that was on purpose. Ichigo glanced back at Inoue, who was in a deep sleep, and wondered why she was still there. He opened his door and went downstairs.

No one was up yet, the house was quiet. Ichigo looked around before opening the front door. He half expected to see Aizen standing there and was a bit relieved when he found nothing but his normal street.

As he walked down the quiet street, he noticed how peaceful everything was. He came upon a familiar memorial, but neither seen nor sensed anything spiritually.

He walked to the familiar shop and went inside.

"Kurosaki-kun, what a nice surprise!" Kisuke said as he looked at the young man enter.

"I want to go to Soul Society," Ichigo said.

"Still trying to end the illusion?"

"Maybe."

"Other than showing you Aizen's prison, what could I do to prove to you that the war is over?"

"Nothing,"

"Even if you see him, it might not stop the illusion. What if I told you the illusion was this other realm you've been talking about?"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't believe me, huh?"

"If you're not going to help me…" he said as he turned back towards the door.

"I want to help you," Kisuke said. "But you're not going to like the outcome."

Ichigo stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing."

"What do you know?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit!" Ichigo said and was on top of the ex-captain in a flash. The older man's collar gripped tightly in his fingers. "Tell me!" Kisuke heard someone clear their throat in the back room. He sighed.

"Have a seat, Kurosaki…" the shop keeper said as he motioned to the back room. "This might take a while."

Reluctantly, Ichigo let go and followed the man. He was surprised to see his father already seated that the table. Quietly, he sat down at the table and listened as Kisuke explained his theory. When he was finished the room was quiet. Ichigo looked at the now cold and untouched tea cup in front of him.

It was an incredible tale. It was a believable tale. Yet –

"From what you have told me, Kuchiki-san isn't in top form?"

"She can't get to her inner world."

"I see."

"Can you help her?"

"Not without knowing what it is they've done to her…"

"I know they used the Hogyoku and they need her." Ichigo said.

Kisuke was surprised. "They used…" He frowned. This was worse than he thought. He sat back and went over different scenarios in his mind, calculating. "I believe I might be able to help Kuchiki-san, but I will need a bit of time."

Ichigo looked hopeful and was about to say something else when the shops bell rang indicating someone's presence.

"Mr. Urahara-san?"

Inoue.

He looked at Ichigo and indicated to the front. It was clear this conversation was over. Ichigo stood and went through the hallway.

"Kurosaki-kun! You frightened me! When I woke up and you weren't there…"

"It's ok, Inoue."

"Why don't you take my son back to the house? I'm sure after this morning's walk; he could use a bit of rest." Isshin said as he stood behind his son. Inoue's eyes grew.

"Oh, yes sir!" She said as she followed Ichigo out of the shop.

Isshin turned to Kisuke. "You need him to destroy the other dimension, don't you?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And unfortunately, he's not going to do it willingly."

"Are you sure?" Isshin looked at Kisuke. "Che, yeah. Not at long as Kuchiki-san is there, eh?"

Kisuke looked at the floor.

"If that's the case, what's your plan?"

"The spell I created needs to be placed on the Hogyoku. The Hogyoku will have to be inside a host. The easiest one would be Kuchiki-san. One the spell is set, we can inject Ichigo. The connection will be severed seconds before the dimension is destroyed. I can set everything up on the pretense I am helping Kuchiki-san."

Isshin closed his eyes. "If he ever found out…"

"It won't be as bad as the consequences we might be facing."

Isshin opened his eyes and looked at his old friend.

"We know through our own history what Aizen did with the Hogyoku. This alternate dimension…If they're using Kuchiki-san and have managed to close her connection with her Zanpaktou, do you have any idea what would happen if he figured out the dimension split and came here?"

"All of our Zanpaktous would be useless."

"I'm not waiting for Kuchiki-taicho. I'm going to inform Soul Society myself."

"There is no other way then to deceive my son?"

"Do you think he would destroy Kuchiki-san willingly?"

Isshin closed his eyes once again. His heart was heavy.

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki-kun, could we go to the park for a few minutes?" Inoue asked as they were on their way home. She had something on her mind for a long time. Every time she wanted to talk to him, something always happened to make her realize it wasn't the right time. She was done waiting for the perfect moment and decided she would make her own.<p>

"Sure, Inoue." Ichigo said. His world felt quiet. No hollows, no soul reapers, nothing.

They reached the park and sat on one of the benches.

Inoue looked at him and blushed. She had rehearsed this over and over in her head for so many years, why did her words fail her? Why now when she finally had his undivided attention?

"Kurosaki-kun…Thank you for coming after me and protecting me."

"Sure thing, Inoue. What are friends for?" He said as he gave her a small smile. Dream or not, she was still a nice person.

"Kurosaki-kun…I've always…I've always wanted to thank you. Ever since my brother died, I've felt alone. But when he turned into a hollow and you saved me… I knew. I knew in my heart that…"

"Hollow!" Ichigo said as he stood. His memories of his fight with the cat like hollow suddenly returning.

"Um…Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue asked. She was finally getting her feelings out and he was… What was he doing?

"Yes, my brother turned into a hollow, do you remember?" she asked.

Ichigo didn't hear her; he was too busy trying to remember what happened. When he woke up here, he just assumed he was asleep there and didn't give it a second thought. Until now. Frantically, he tried to remember what happened. A cero was aimed at Rukia, his back was hit by that tail…Then it all turned blue. Kido… Rukia said she was still able to perform a limited amount.

Rukia…

She must have used it to break his momentum towards the hollow. Did she destroy it? Was she hurt? He didn't want to entertain the thought of more appearing. She would have to fight while he was passed out somewhere.

"Rukia!" He said out loud. He stepped away from the bench.

Inoue got up and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun." She said as she realized that bringing up her brother must have reminded him of his lost powers and…her.

His heart was pounding in his ears. All he could think about was Rukia alone in Hueco Mundo, trying to defend his useless body in her already weakened state. "RUKIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he yelled again.

"Kurosaki-kun, you're hyperventilating!" She said. Ichigo took a few more steps before he fell to the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry for the delay on OTWTA, I seem to be on a roll with this one. I have ½ a chapter for the other one, but the curser keeps blinking at me forcing me to return to this one...So… here ya go. I kicked out another one-shot – Left in the Past. Take a peak if you're so inclined… Wrote it this morning.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11<p>

Ichigo had a horrible headache. He opened his eyes to a familiar darkness. He slowly sat up and looked at the white sands around him. Literally. He was all but buried in the sand. He checked himself over. He was a little banged up, but nothing major. He found Zangetsu lying next to him and picked him up.

As he stood, his eyes fell upon a discoloration in the sand. Blood. His heart started to pound. Rukia...

"Rukia!" He called out. He quickly closed his eyes and used the trick Renji taught him to find her. The ribbons danced and swayed in front of him until he found the one he was looking for: her red one. At first he didn't see it. He wasn't sure, and then he spotted one that was different than the others. It wasn't red, but very faded. Like Rukia's powers. He concentrated on it as hard as he could.

He gasped as the ribbon showed him what he wanted to see. She was about ten miles out, closer to the grass area they were looking at earlier. She was bruised, she was bloody and she was still fighting. Ichigo lifted Zangetsu straight out and put his hand over his arm.

"Banaki!"

* * *

><p>Rukia wiped the blood out of her eyes. There was a three inch gash across the left side of her forehead. She had sustained various cuts in her battles, but the worst was a stab wound to her lower stomach, right above her left hip. She had dodged the hollows tail but was impaled by one of its claws on the remaining front paw. She had lost a lot of blood, but she had succeeded in luring it away from Ichigo.<p>

She had finally managed to kill it however it wasn't before others took notice. One by one they came. Rukia managed to go back to where Ichigo was lying between fights. She kicked sand over him, hiding his body. She hoped that "out of sight, out of mind" would apply. Then she ran as far away as she could before the next one found her. She wouldn't let them get him. She would protect him with her very life.

She coughed up blood as the Arrancar's fist drove deep into her stomach, bruising her internal organs. This one resembled a human. He was a man of average height, muscular. His hole was in his neck and his mask covered his nose and mouth. It draped around the top part of his neck and extended out making his shoulders look like they had spikes. He had dark hair and eyes that spoke of his murderous intent.

The breath was knocked out of her. Her eyes grew as she couldn't breathe. She landed in the soft grass and rolled over. She coughed up more blood. It looked like gallons. She had lost a lot already and felt exhausted. Her arms and legs felt like they were made of lead. It would be easy to close her eyes and give in to the darkness that threatened to overtake her.

Her eyes shot open. No! It wasn't going to end like this. She wouldn't let this monster kill her, not while Ichigo needed her. Slowly she pushed herself up. Everything hurt. Her vision was fading. She blinked a few times and again, wiped the blood out of her eyes.

She lifted her hand, and opened her mouth. Finally, she was able to take a breath. She took several before she focused on her target.

"Hado – "was all she managed to get out before the Arrancar charged at her. He rammed his shoulder spike into her chest, sending her back down to the ground. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. The darkness clouded her vision, threatening to overtake her. Ichigo…she had to kill this Arrancar and protect Ichigo.

Her mind knew what she wanted to do, knew what she had to do. Her body had other plans as it refused to obey a single command. She managed to focus as she saw the Arrancar back up and lean in with his spiky shoulder. He was going to try the same maneuver. He was going to impale her again.

Rukia couldn't move as she desperately willed her body. _Just a little more_. She thought to herself. Her fingers managed to wrap around her sword. She couldn't lift it.

_Move!_

…

_Move!_

…

_Move! Move! MOVE!_

She screamed in her head. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt. She looked up in time to see the Arrancar fade out of view. In a flash he was in front of her, she used everything she had left and pulled her sword up off the ground.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRHHH!"

Rukia's sword managed to impale the Arrancar as Ichigo brought his down on top of and through the Arrancars head, severing it in two.

Ichigo caught the Arrancar's body as it fell forward towards Rukia. He tossed it away and looked down.

"I-Ichi-go…" Rukia said as her vision started to darken. She lost all control of movement and fell over. Ichigo was instantly by her side and caught her before she fell completely.

"Rukia, I'm so sorry," he said. He watched as she tried to focus on his face. Her lids were heavy.

"No…need…" She struggled to keep her eyes open. She coughed up a bit of blood. Ichigo watched as the crimson liquid made a trail out of the corner of her mouth. "Are…you…ok?" She managed to ask.

"I'm ok," he assured her. He looked at her with soft amber eyes. He couldn't believe she was asking how he was.

"I'm…glad." Rukia looked at him. He was awake, he was in bankai, he was ok. She closed her eyes and let the darkness overtake her.

Ichigo worked quickly. He gently laid her down and tore the bottom of his hakama into strips. He looked over and found a small pool of water. She had been right. The grass meant water was nearby. He washed some of the strips in the cool water faintly wishing the water had healing properties like he found in Urahara's training grounds.

He used the wet strips to clean the biggest wounds on her chest and hip. He bandaged her and carefully wrapped her head. Not for the first time in his life, he wished he knew kido; at the very least, a healing kido. He checked her pulse. It was weak, but it was there. She was breathing evenly. When all of this was over, he would pester her until she showed him how it all worked.

When this was over… He looked around the bloody battlefield. There was no telling how many hollows she slayed while he was unconscious. She protected him. Just the thought was overwhelming for him. At the same time it made him mad. He passed out too easily and left her to defend them in her already weakened state. He should be the one protecting her. He shook his head.

He carefully moved her to the edge of the grassy area. He had found some tall bushes they could lay under for shelter if the winds picked up. He gathered some of the grass and made a small soft patch for Rukia. He had ripped up some more cloth, soaked them in the cool water and put them across Rukia's forehead. He was trying to make her as comfortable as possible. She had risked everything for him. Everything.

He thought about what Urahara said about the dimensional split. The thought made him uneasy. It didn't help that he got the feeling there was more to the story than he was told. His father wouldn't look at him. That was always the biggest tip off that something wasn't right.

What if there were two dimensions. That would explain why he kept having the same dream. But why now and why couldn't he get there when he was under Aizen's illusion? He only slept. Ichigo frowned. Maybe it was all Aizen's doing. Maybe everything was Aizen's doing and they already lost. He shook his head again. He couldn't think like that. She would kick his ass. He thought as he looked at her.

Rukia slept soundlessly. Her head, torso and hip were now bandaged. Her white Arrancar uniform was dirty and stained with her blood in several areas. He hated her in white. There was something that was just wrong about it. She was so small, so fragile looking. He smirked at the thought of the little spite fire she was. He was thankful for her. Not just for protecting him, but for being in his life, for being his friend, for being the one he loved.

He had to protect her.

He had to find a way to get her out of here and out of danger.

He had to find a way to restore her powers.

He had defeated Aizen in the other dimension. Or so they said. Things had returned to normal. His friends were happy save worrying about his welfare. Everyone could get on with their lives. School, homework, high school drama, fights after school. Normal.

No more hollows, no more Soul Society, no more worrying about threats to his friends and family. No more Rukia. Even if she were alive, he wouldn't be able to see her anymore. In that reality, he lost his powers. Who was he without his powers? He looked at Rukia again and remembered her faded ribbon.

Urahara said he could help her.

"_**Che, you're going to rely on the same fuck that started this whole thing? You're a bigger idiot then I thought! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"**_

Ichigo frowned as an uneasy feeling came over him. He brushed it away and went to change Rukia's dressings.

* * *

><p>Rukia awoke several hours later to find a pair of amber eyes looking at her. "Ichi-go…"<p>

"How are you feeling?" She tried to sit up, but was gently pushed back down. "You need to stay put or your wounds will start bleeding again. I just got them to stop."

Rukia looked at him.

"You're going to have to teach me kido one of these days; especially the healing one."

In her current state, Rukia knew she would slow him down. She was nothing more than a burden to him. Something he had to watch over and protect. She reached out and took his hand. She placed it over her chest where the spike impaled her.

"Concentrate," she whispered, "if you don't, you could kill me." Ichigo quickly retracted his hand. Rukia's eyes softened. "I trust you with everything I am." She said as she reached out for his hand again.

"But-"

"You won't," she said. She looked at him and as their eyes met and held each other he was calmed. "The healing kido is one of the easiest ones to learn," she said between breaths. She tried to keep her face from contorting from the pain.

"What am I concentrating on?" He asked as he grew determined.

"Let your reiatsu wash over mine. Your patient's reiatsu needs to be stable or it won't work," she said. Immediately she felt the strength and the warmth that was Ichigo envelop her. She felt her own strength returning, if only a little. How she loved the feel of him around her. She put his hand over her wound once more. "Concentrate. Envision the wound closing, the soul healing itself."

Ichigo did as he was told. He looked at the hole and seemingly willed it to close. He was shocked when his hands started to emit a green light. So much so it went away as fast as it came. He gasped. Rukia gave him a soft smile.

"Just like that," she encouraged.

Ichigo put his hands back and concentrated. He felt his reiatsu mingle and dance with hers. She wasn't nearly as strong as she used to be. "_**Half the Shinigami,"**_ he heard his hollow say. She was, but there was something else. Something _different _about her yet very, very familiar that he couldn't put his finger on. He watched as the green light emitted from his hands once again. He marveled as the hole began to close.

It was slow going, and he quickly broke out in a sweat. If he thought of anything else, the healing process would come to a complete halt. He would have to empty his mind and start over.

Hours later, her chest wound was healed.

He looked at the now closed hole. He was astonished that he did it. He healed her. "Wow," he breathed.

Rukia sat up. She was still dizzy from the blood loss, but felt tons better. "Thank you, Ichigo." He looked at her with concern.

"What about the rest? That gash on your hip – "

"Isn't that bad," she said, cutting him off. "You've done a lot for your first time. I know you have a bottomless pit when it comes to your reiatsu, but you need to stay on alert."

He nodded. She was right. They were still out in the open and could get attacked by more hollows at any time and there was no way he was going to let her fight.

"You learn fast," she said as she smiled at him. He grinned in response.

"So, does that mean you'll show me more?"

Rukia laughed. "I'm not sure I can teach you. It takes years of study before they let you try at the academy." Her eyes dimmed a bit as her face grew wistful. "Renji nearly took out half of the training grounds along with himself when he first attempted. But then, kido was never really his thing."

Ichigo carefully pulled her into his chest where she buried her face. She wasn't going to cry, but she was thankful for the support. She felt safe and whole with him. A part of her was scared to depend on him so much, especially after a life of having to depend on only herself. She remembered Renji's words right after her execution rescue about it being ok for her to let go. For he and Ichigo to take some of the burdens she carried.

"I'm sorry, Rukia." Ichigo whispered in her hair. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to save him. I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you." She was in so much pain. Pain he wished he could have prevented. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Tawake! There was nothing you could do," she said against his chest. "Stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong. I know you want to protect those you love, but you can't be everywhere at the same time."

"Rukia…" She looked up into his amber eyes. "I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Where, oh where have I been? Who cares, I'm here now and here's another chapter :P Happy New Year everyone!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

They were cuddled close together in the soft grass Ichigo used for soft bedding. He lay on his back, his arms wrapped around her small frame. She lay on her side, close to him, facing him; her head against his chest, her arm around his side.

"Never! I will never leave your side again, Rukia." He whispered fiercely.

"You're being unreasonable."

"So what?"

"So, you're not thinking clearly."

"Neither are you. You're blinded by your injuries."

"Ichigo…"

"Rukia, we've gone through this before. I won't leave you here. Now rest. Tomorrow we'll try and find our way to the Forrest of Menos and find that hideout you were in. Maybe we'll find something useful there."

"Useful for what?"

"For taking down Aizen and restoring your powers."

Rukia tilted her head and looked at him. Everything he has been through since their first meeting has been her fault. Everything. Yet he never abandoned her. He had chance after chance to wash his hands of his power and her, yet he continued on. She knew in her heart that he would do exactly what he said he would or die trying. She didn't know what she could do with her limited and weakened powers but whatever it took to keep him alive and safe, she wouldn't hesitate.

"Sleep well, Ichigo." She said as she turned her head back and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Isshin opened the back door in his kitchen and frowned. It didn't take the other man very long to get his answer.<p>

"What happened?"

Kisuke entered and sat at the kitchen table. "I take it your son is passed out again?"

"Yes. I managed to pry Orihim-chan away from him and sent her out with Ryuuken's boy. The girls are at a school event and won't be home until later. What happened?" he asked again as he brought out another cup. He poured tea for his guest and sat down.

"Kuchiki-taicho and a few others put up some resistance to my suggestions, but were soon outnumbered. With this new information, even they finally agreed that the sacrifice needed to be made for everyone's safety."

"So the other dimension?"

"Will be destroyed," he said as he picked up his cup.

Isshin closed his eyes.

"We need to start planning the best course of action. I was put in charge of the operation since I have a way to destroy the Hogyoku. I will need to know everything Ichigo says when he awakens so we can figure out the best way to get it back into Kuchiki-san."

Isshin nodded.

"When he is conscious, encourage him to go back to Los Noches. Tell him in order to undo everything Aizen has done to Kuchiki-san, she will have to go back and have the Hogyoku back inside of her. We will give him the spell." He picked up his tea cup again and held it. "I wish there was a way to save the Hogyoku. All of that power…"

Isshin looked at him. "I don't like the idea of deceiving my son."

"Of course you don't, but it's not like you haven't done it before," he smirked behind his tea.

"That was different," Isshin said, irritation showing in his voice. "Besides, he knows now. I thought with Aizen gone and everything out we could start new. No more secrets. He's been through enough already and now…"

"Now he has to go through a little bit more."

"How much more are you going to put him through to fix your mistakes?"

Kisuke's eyes widened as he set his cup down.

"It's tragic what happened, but Aizen – "

"Leave. I'll let you know when he wakes up again, but for now I think it's best if you just leave."

Without a word, Kisuke stood and left. Isshin put his head in his hands as they rested on the table. "Just one more sacrifice," he laughed bitterly.

* * *

><p>"Thank you for taking me out to eat, Ishida-kun," Orihime said as they exited the restaurant. The mid afternoon sun was bright. They both shielded their eyes as they stepped out onto the street. The sun was bright.<p>

"You're welcome," he said as he blushed.

"I need to get back to Kurosaki-kun now. I'm sure you can come too. I bet he would like seeing you there."

"ORIHIME!" a voice yelled from the crowd. Ishida stood instinctively closer to the girl as he scanned the crowd.

"ORIHIME!"

"Wha-?" She asked before her eyes grew and her face lit up. "Tatsuki-chan!"

Ishida sighed as the short girl with the spiky hair emerged from the crowed and hugged her friend.

"How have you been? It seems like it's been forever since I've seen you."

"I've been with Kurosaki-kun – "

"Really?" she asked, shocked. "You two are getting along since the end of the war now?" Grin on her face. "No wonder I haven't seen much of you."

"Huh? Oh, no, no… It's nothing like that," she replied sadly. "He's been unconscious for the most part and when he comes too…" she frowned and looked at her shoes.

"We were just heading over there now," Ishida offered, "Would you like to come with us?"

"Of course!"

The three made their way to the clinic and greeted Isshin as they entered.

"Any changes?" Inoue asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid not, Orihime-chan. Go on up, being surrounded by his friends will be good for him. Especially when he wakes up again."

"Thank you," she said as she gave him a short bow before heading upstairs. Isshin turned to Ishida, "May I speak with you for a few minutes?"

Ichigo's room was bathed in sunlight with the curtains open. Ichigo lay in his bed, asleep on his back. His father had not bothered to hook up the IV considering what happened last time.

"He looks peaceful," Tatsuki said. "Almost happy…must be a good dream."

"Yes, a good dream," Inoue said as she took her chair by his bedside and sighed.

"So he's been awake since the war ended?"

"Yes, a few times."

"How is he?"

"He's forgotten a lot. We had to tell him…about Kuchiki-san."

"Oh. How did he take it?"

"He didn't believe us. He thought he was being controlled by Aizen." Inoue looked at Ichigo with sadness in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Tatsuki said as she looked to her friend. Tears were already welling up.

"It's stupid and silly of me," she said as she quickly wiped her eyes. She looked at Ichigo. He face was relaxed and there were traces of a slight smile. Inoue closed her eyes and turned away.

"Hime? You're worrying me…"

"He's probably dreaming of _her_. It's always been about _her_ ever since she came into his life and screwed it up."

"Who?"

"Kuchiki-san," she said sadly as she turned to her friend. "I thought…I thought for once I could be the strong one. Like her. I could be the one to save him like she does. I wanted to be the one he admired even for only a moment." She glanced at Ichigo before looking at her feet. "I believed them. I believed Aizen wouldn't hurt him. I believed I could make a difference. I believed I could come first in his heart."

Tatsuki walked over to her friend and sat on the edge of the bed. She knew about the war and how her friends were involved, but she never got a chance to talk to them about it.

"Ulquiorra-kun promised that if I went with him, that if I served Aizen he wouldn't hurt Kurosaki-kun. I knew about the impending war everyone was getting ready for. I didn't want him to get hurt so I knew this was my chance. It was my turn to show him that I was strong like Kuchiki-san. I went with them, but all I ended up doing was hurting him instead."

"No you didn't – "

"Yes! This whole thing is my fault! He came for me. He came to rescue me."

"That's good, isn't it? Doesn't that show you how much he cares for you?"

Inoue took a breath before continuing. "I am a horrible person."

"No you're not!"

"Yes! Yes I am! Don't you see? I knew…somewhere deep inside I knew he would come for me. I knew if I got in too far over my head he would be there for me. And he was. It was so wonderful when he saved me, Tatsuki-chan. When we were together, when he held my hand…it was perfect. I felt like we were the only two people in the world. But then…" she sniffed, "But then he talked about how he was going to save everyone that helped him come for me. Abarai-kun, Ishida-kun, Sado-kun…and _her_; especially her." She looked at her friend through watery eyes. "Do you want to hear the worst? I felt her die and a part me…a part of me was relieved. She would never come between me and Kurosaki-kun again."

"Orihime…"

"I just…That moment when he held my hand… I wanted to feel like that again. I want him all to myself again," She said as she shook her head. "But I don't think that's possible."

"Why not?"

Ichigo groaned in his sleep.

"Because Kuchiki-san is gone forever." Inoue said as Tatsuki looked perplexed.

"Isn't that a good thing though? I mean, it's sad what happened to her and I'm sure if he liked her it will take him some time to get over it, but she's not here now. You are."

"It's my fault she's gone and it's only a matter of time before he blames me for losing her." She said as the tears fell.

"No he won't! She knew the risks following him, they all did. They all wanted to rescue you, Inoue. You are everything good and pure and right. He's already seen that in you. Sure he will need some time, but as long as you're by his side, he will get over it and he will look to you."

"Do you really think so?" Inoue said as she dried her eyes. Ichigo mumbled in his sleep.

"When he wakes up, you need to show him that you're there for him. You need to tell him how you feel."

"Ah, I don't know…" she said looking at her feet again with a blush on her face. "I tried when we were at the park. I mentioned how thankful I was that he saved me and saved my brother when he was a hollow. But then…he acted all crazy and started calling out to Kuchiki-san like she was alive and in danger or something."

"Orihime…"

"He was upset, he started hyperventilating and then he passed out. He hasn't woken up since."

Ichigo started to mumble. Inoue leaned over him, "What?" she whispered.

"I love you…" he said. Inoue stared in shock. Tatsuki stood up and put a hand on her friends shoulder.

"See? I told you he would come around," she said as she smiled.

Ishida quietly entered the room.

Inoue started to smile.

"Never! I will never leave your side again…Rukia…"

As the smile was falling from her face, Ishida looked at Tatsuki.

"Why don't you both take a break from his bedside, ne? I think some more fresh air will do her some good."

Tatsuki nodded and gently tugged on Inoue's elbow.

"He…he…"

"Orihime, I told you, it's going to take time. Come on. Let's go downstairs and make some tea."

"Do you think Kurosaki-kun will like some when he wakes up?"

She nodded and led her out of the room. Ishida sighed, sat down and looked at his friend. He shook his head.

"You're not going to give her up so easily, are you?" He asked. Ichigo grunted in response and moved his head. He was waking up.

"Ishida?"

"Kurosaki," he replied. Ichigo sat up in his bed, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around. He glanced outside and saw the sun sitting low in the afternoon. He frowned.

"Why do I keep coming back here?" he whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing." Ichigo looked at him and frowned. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"Another time," he said as he swung his legs out from under the covers.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm going out."

"Where?"

"I need to see Urahara-san. I need to see if he's found a way to fix Rukia since I'm here."

"Ichigo…"

"What?" He asked impatiently as he stood.

"We should talk."

"Later."

"Have you thought about the possibility you're dreaming? You went through a traumatic ordeal defeating Aizen and then losing your powers. You've been out for a long time and then come to find out that Kuchiki-san – " Ichigo didn't let him finish. He pushed him aside and headed for his door. He put his hand on the doorknob and hesitated.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to believe or think." He closed his eyes, "When I'm here it feels…right."

"You know this is right. You know this is the reality. You need to let her go!"

"No!" He said as he whirled around. Ishida was taken aback. Ichigo had that determined, crazed look in his eyes. "No! I will never, NEVER let her go!"

"Ichigo…"

"I don't know anything about this dimensional split Urahara-san mentioned, it could still be one of Aizen's tricks for all I know, but I do know one thing," he said as he stood toe to toe with him. "Rukia is alive. They've done unspeakable things to her and they will pay for it. This dimension, that dimension, this dream, that dream, I don't care. I will save her." He turned, grabbed the door and left.

Ishida sighed and shook his head. "This isn't going to be easy. But then, nothing where you're concerned ever is…"

* * *

><p>Ichigo raced down the stairs and into the dining area intending to go out the back door when he ran into Inoue and knocked her down.<p>

"oof!"

"Ahh!"

Ichigo rubbed the small bump on his head as Inoue did the same. She looked at him with concern.

"Are you ok, Kurosaki-kun?"

"huh? Yeah, I'm fine, Inoue," he said as he stood up. He extended his hand out to help her up. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes! I'm fine! I'm better than fine! I'm – " She babbled as she took his hand and stood up. She was disappointed when he quickly let her go and started for the door. "Um… would…would you like some tea? I made you some for when you woke up," she offered.

"No thank you, Inoue."

"Do you need help with anything?" She asked. Tatsuki looked at her.

"No, I'm just going to head out for a bit. I'll be back later," he said as he turned the handle.

"Not even going to say Hi to me?" Tatsuki asked as she stood from her seat.

"Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry." Ichigo said as he turned around and gave a short nod to his friend.

"Hmmph," she replied.

"ICHI-GOOOOOOOOOOOO!" His father called as he launched himself from nowhere and flew to the door. Ichigo side stepped and watched as his father crashed. "Ahhhh…" he groaned as he held his nose. "That's no way to treat girls, Ichigo. Orihime-chan has been by your side this whole time. Sit and have some tea with her." He said.

Ichigo looked at him and opened his mouth.

"I've spoken with Kisuke, sit," he reiterated. Ichigo sat down. Inoue jumped back into the kitchen and bought out the tea tray. She placed a cup in front of Ichigo and poured for him. She smiled and took the seat next to him.

"What did he say?" Ichigo said as he ignored the tea. "Can he help Rukia?" Tatsuki saw Inoue's smile falter.

"He can."

"And?"

"In your dream, oops, I mean, when you're there…Where are you? Are you close to Los Noches?"

"No, we're in the opposite direction. We're headed for the Forest of Menos."

Isshin looked surprised but said nothing. "You will need to go back to Los Noches," he said. "Part of Kisuke's plan includes getting the Hogyoku back into Kuchiki-san."

Ichigo looked at his father and stared at him.

Something…

Something…

"Why?"

"He figured whatever they did to her was magnified by it being inside of her. In order to fix things, it needs to be back so it can reverse what it's done. He has a spell and some things for you to do once it's inside of her. There are some things we need to do here that might help you."

"Will that work? Will that fix her and make her whole again?"

"I…I don't know," he said as he looked away.

Something….

Something…

"I'm going to see him," he said as he stood up.

"Ichigo…"

"Yes?"

"What if you manage to fix her? What if you manage to defeat Aizen in the dimension you're in now? What happens then?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't keep bouncing around."

* * *

><p>"Ichigo?" Tatsuki called out later that evening. She had caught him as he was on his way back from Urahara's shop. Actually she was waiting for him.<p>

"Hey, Tatsuki," he said as he walked over. "What are you doing out this late?"

"I…I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to make sure you were ok." Ichigo looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"I'm fine. Did you want to talk to me while I walk you home?"

"That would be great, thank you," she said as she joined his side.

They walked a few blocks before she started in on the conversation again.

"Ichigo…You never answered your father. I've thought about it and realize that that might mean you don't know how to answer him. It must be so hard to have everyone rely on you so much. Especially now that there are other dimensions. You fought hard here. You won and now…Now it seems like you have to do it again. I don't think that's right…or fair."

"Tatsuki…"

"No! You've done your time, you've taken your wounds for these people! This war isn't even yours to fight! It's theirs! It's the Shinigami's fight!" They stopped walking. Ichigo turned to face her.

"And what am I? What am I, Tatsuki?"

"You're human!" She replied. "You were a normal human before Kuchiki changed you! She had no right!"

"She saved me! She saved my family!"

"At what cost? You changed!" She said as her voice was becoming higher pitched. "Orihime told me. She told me how you turned into that monster! How you were hurt time and time again!"

Ichigo shook his head. "I am part Shinigami, Tatsuki. That is my job!" He yelled.

"Not anymore! You won! You traded all of that power to defeat Aizen and you won! Now it's time to go back to being the way you were. The way you were before she ruined it all!" She said.

"What would you have me do? Ignore everything that is going on?"

"Sever the connection. Leave them to their fight," she said as she touched his hand. Ichigo took a step back. "Stay where you were meant to be. With your family who loves you, with your friends who love you. With Orihime…"

"You're just like Ishida. My friends are supposed to support me, yet you're telling me to turn my back and leave Rukia."

"Ichigo…She's dead. In this world, this dimension…she's dead."


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Thank you all for continuing to read my story even though I gave you all such a delay… Thank you for everyone who has reviewed, favorited and added to their alerts **

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

Ichigo felt the warmth of her small frame still cuddled up against his body. He opened his eyes and shifted slightly so he could look at her. Her head was still on his chest, her arm wrapped around his waist. She was breathing softly, still asleep.

He lifted his arm and gently draped it across her back. He let his fingers get lost in her hair. The soft raven locks flowed like a stream between his fingers.

"_Ichigo…She's dead. In this world, this dimension…she's dead."_

"But not in this one," he whispered as he let another lock of her hair slip through. He could lay there for days if he could, holding her, feeling her warm breath on his skin…

"_What if you manage to fix her? What if you manage to defeat Aizen in the dimension you're in now? What happens then?"_

"Is it so bad that I want to stay with you?" he whispered as he shifted again. He put his other arm around her protectively and tried to clear his mind.

"Ichigo?" She whispered, "You're … crushing … me…."

"Huh?" he asked as he removed his arm. She brought her head up and caught her breath. "Sorry."

Rukia carefully sat up. She glanced at the wound in her side to find it completely healed. She looked at Ichigo.

"I wanted to practice and you were already asleep."

She smiled. "Thank you." She looked into his eyes and knew. "Something happen?"

Ichigo closed his eyes and sat up.

"Are you ok to walk?" He asked, ignoring her question. Rukia stood up and nodded.

"To the forest?"

"No." He turned and looked at her. "We're going back to Los Noches."

"What?" she gasped. "You can't be serious, Ichigo! We barely escaped with our lives and you want to go back?" She reached out and placed the back of her hand across his forehead.

He brushed it away and caught her hand in his. "Will you stop that? I'm fine."

"You're suggesting a suicide mission! No, you're not fine!" She huffed.

"Rukia, listen. I talked to Urahara-san and he said he can fix you."

"In your dream? You talked to him in your dream? Ichigo…" Fear crawled down her spine. Ichigo sensed the change and pulled her into his lap. He put his arms around her protectively.

"They're convinced it's a dimensional split and I'm not so sure they're wrong. It's just a feeling that I can't explain."

Rukia looked at him.

"He said he has an idea of what they might have done and can reverse it. We go back, we find the Hogyoku and get it back inside of you." He felt Rukia stiffen then shake. "He gave me a spell, Rukia. He gave me a spell and said everything else we'll need should be in the lab."

"No," she whispered. "No. I'm not having that _thing_ touch me again, Ichigo."

"Rukia…"

"No! You have no idea what it's like to be connected to that…that thing!" she said as she shook her head.

Ichigo stroked her hair. "Please, Rukia…If you don't, you'll fade away until there's nothing left. You'll die. I won't let that happen. I've lost my powers in that other dimension, Rukia. I can't see souls, I can't feel reiatsu, I can't fight hollows. But that's not nearly the worst of it. The worst of it is that you're not there. I can't lose you here too."

Rukia tilted her head and looked at him. In that moment he wasn't the fierce, determined, cocky Ichigo she knew so well. Here, she felt his sadness and vulnerability. All of it. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "You talked to Kisuke," it was a statement, not a question. She placed her hand on the side of his face and nodded. "If you believe…."

Ichigo held her tighter.

"Shouldn't we have some kind of plan? I don't think Aizen will just open the door for us and give us the Hogyoku." She said after a while.

Ichigo's eyes shone. "The plan is simple. I will defeat them all." Rukia could feel the resolution and determination flow through him. This was the cocky man she knew. She let a hint of a smile pass over her lips. She stretched herself, kissed his forehead and untangled herself from him, standing up.

"Then I think we should get going," she said. She walked to the small pond and dipped her hand in. She scooped up some water and drank. She looked over and watched as Ichigo stood and secured Zangetsu to his back. The familiar sight restored her confidence. Picking up Sode no Shirayuki, she tried to ignore the overwhelming silence, the absence of her spirit, and secured it to her hip.

"_**She's going to die…"**_

Ichigo watched as Rukia frowned at her sword.

"No she's not."

"_**She will if you continue to put your trust where it shouldn't be…"**_

"Come on!" he said as he turned and headed towards Los Noches, blocking out the voice in his head.

* * *

><p>"Hold on!" Rukia whispered. They reached the outside of the old wing where they escaped from not days before. Rukia put her head to the ground and listened.<p>

Silence.

"That's odd."

"What?"

"I don't understand how we made it all the way back here without encountering one hollow. Now that we're here, there's nothing. No signs of anyone."

Ichigo pulled his Zanpaktou. "Maybe they're all inside, waiting." He said as he jumped through the broken door and took off down the hall.

"Oi! Ichigo!" Rukia called after him. "Why do you have to be so reckless?" She asked as she followed him.

Inside things were quiet and dark. Rukia held out her hand and made emitted a small ball of glowing reiatsu. In her limited capacity, she was unable to detect anything other than Ichigo.

"Now what?"

"Now we find what we came for and fix you," Ichigo said as he started down the hallway. Rukia stood at his side, lighting their path.

As they walked she started second guessing this whole idea. She remembered the pain she endured when the Hogyoku was last inside of her, the things Aizen and Granz had done to her. She shook her head and glanced at Ichigo. He was so confident.

She thought about the alternate dimension he spoke of. In it Aizen was defeated. If that were true, wouldn't they think this one would be a threat? If Ichigo could somehow transport between the two, certainly Aizen would be able to figure that out and do the same. She knew without a doubt that would be bad, especially since Ichigo went through so much and lost his powers in the process. No one else would be strong enough to defeat him. This dimension would be a threat to theirs.

Her breath caught as she considered her thoughts.

"Did Urahara-san say what we should do after my powers are restored?"

"Huh?" He asked as he stopped. "Umm…no."

He looked at the floor as his hollow laughed at him.

"I won't let anything happen to you," he looked at her, determination back in his eyes.

"I don't feel right, Ichigo."

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you ok? What's wrong?"

She half smiled at him. "It's not me. That other dimension, I don't think you should trust– " Her words were cut off by an explosion at the other end of the long tunnel they were in. Immediately they felt Aizen's reiatsu. He was fighting.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia called out as she took off down the hall, Ichigo close behind.

* * *

><p>They reached the end of the long tunnel that opened up into a staging area. This was one of many large rooms before the next hallway that led to Granz's castle and lab.<p>

The room was all but destroyed, cracks and holes in the stone walls and rubble lay everywhere. The roof was gone, the entire wall on the back side was obliterated revealing the false sunlight and an endless field of sand. Byakuya was soaked in blood and was dripping on the floor. Aizen was standing in front of him. Kenpachi lay in a heap on the other side of the room. Bloodied and not breathing.

Ichigo instinctively pushed Rukia behind him.

"I see you've returned, Kurosaki-kun," Aizen drawled out. He looked relaxed, not a hair was out of place. "I wonder what brings me this honor of your return?"

"I've come to take back what you've stolen from Rukia," he said, his voice confident. Rukia stared, wide eyed.

Aizen smiled. "I knew you would." He flicked his finger and several Espada appeared. Rukia let out a yelp as Grimmjow suddenly appeared behind them and grabbed her. He held her arms tightly behind her back.

"Missed you, shorty," he said as he licked her ear.

Ichigo turned and slammed the hilt of Zangetsu into Grimmjow's temple. It would have been enough to knock out anyone. But this wasn't anyone.

Grimmjow snarled in response and held his head. Ichigo grabbed Rukia and shunpo'd away before Grimmjow realized his mistake in letting her go.

Now, on the other side of the room, he let her down. She glanced at him quickly. _Be careful, _her eyes stated before she crouched down to see to Kenpachi.

"Have you decided to keep your end of the deal?" Aizen asked.

"What deal?" Byakuya asked.

"The deal where he joins me," Aizen said. Byakuya looked at Ichigo.

Ichigo glanced over at Rukia. "This ends now," he said as he brought his sword in front of him.

"That sounds a little like a threat."

"Ban-KAI!"

Rukia shielded her eyes as dirt and debris swirled around them from the power of Ichigo's reiatsu.

"Oh, this is gonna be good!" Grimmjow said as he rushed towards Ichigo. Byakuya stood beside the Daiko.

"Concentrate on Aizen, I'll tend to the others," Byakuya said. Ichigo looked at him.

"Bankai," he said in his eloquent voice. Ichigo nodded and turned to face Aizen. He heard screaming from down the inner hall and was amazed to see the other Captains as they stepped through. Soi-Fon, Hitsugaya and Urahara-san emerged from the hallway and stood beside Byakuya. Unohana knelt with Rukia over Kenpachi and removed his eye patch. With a burst of yellow reiatsu, he started his maniacal laughing.

"Save some for me!" He laughed as he stood and eyed the other Espada in the room.

Rukia watched in horror as Ichigo and Aizen disappeared, her brother faced off with Grimmjow, the others and their opponents spread out into the sand and she was left alone. Useless.

"Kuchiki Rukia," Granz's voice floated through the demolished hallway. "I was hoping I would see you again. I would hate to put all of that work into you and you leave me like that."

Rukia backed away from the wall. She scanned the outside, looking for somewhere to run.

"It's not going to do you any good to run. With everyone occupied, I have nothing but time on my hands. With your weakened state, it wouldn't take much effort to retrieve you."

"Why?" she whispered. "Haven't you done enough to me?"

"No. There's still so much…more I want to do to you," he said as he stepped into the room. Rukia froze. "Don't look at me like that. I am very grateful to you. If it were not for you, I never would have found a way around your connection with your Zanpaktou."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't talk to her anymore can you?"

Rukia looked at him.

"Of course you can't because I broke the connection!" He said as he laughed. "Without that connection you can't get to Shikai rendering you…useless."

Rukia gasped.

"That's not all we've discovered thanks to you and we have much to do before you're completely worthless."

"What are you talking about?"

"With each experiment we do you lose more and more spirit particles. The more you use, the less you are you. Pretty soon, you'll be gone completely."

"That's why I can't leave here," she said, her voice flat.

"Yes, it takes a lot of spiritual energy to pass through the Garganta. That's one thing you don't have and unfortunately, its one thing you'll never get back," he said as he smiled.

Rukia knew all along she was stuck here yet she winced as he confirmed it. Her fate sealed, she looked out to the sands, trying to feel _his_ reiatsu. He was still fighting Aizen although she could not see him.

"He will lose, you know."

Rukia snapped her head back and frowned. "No," she whispered. "He will win and he will destroy you."

Granz laughed. "He will be destroyed. Unless…" He stopped and followed her previous gaze out into the sands. "If you could convince him to fight on our side, I might be able to convince Aizen to let him live."

Rukia closed her eyes and smiled. "Have you not learned by now that I am not a traitorous bastard like Aizen? I have faith in everything Ichigo stands for, everything he is! He will win! He will defeat Aizen and he will destroy you!" She said in a huff.

"Then what?"

She looked at him questioningly.

"What happens if he does defeat us? What do you think will happen next? You all go back to the Living World or the Soul Society and live out your pathetic existences?" He laughed. "Maybe he will, but you…you will be right here fighting hollow after hollow until you can't fight anymore."

Rukia shuddered and raised her Zanpaktou. He was trying to get under skin, break her resolve and then use her against Ichigo. She knew that tactic well. They've used it before. She would not be used against him; she would not play into his hands. She wouldn't be a hindrance.

"Fight me all you want, you're not enough," he said as he pulled the Hogyoku out of his pocket.

Rukia gasped. Instantly she remembered the pain and the torture she faced under his "experiments", yet she found she couldn't move. She was mesmerized by that tiny orb. She was drawn to it as it called to her.

Granz smiled, closed the distance between them and touched her shoulder. She didn't even flinch. Her conscious was elsewhere, focused on it. She didn't hear as Granz called out a spell, didn't feel as he pushed his hand with the orb into her being.

"Now, let's finish our last experiment and crush the Shinigami," he smiled. The hole he made in Rukia's chest closed. She stumbled back a few steps and fell to her knees.

She gasped for air as she felt the power of the rock infuse with what was left of her own.

"My, my…And all this time you were made out to be this great scientist when all you are is nothing more than a child playing with a toy."

Granz gasped as he turned towards the voice. Rukia gained control of her breathing as the pain subsided. She looked up to see as Kurotsuchi Taicho emerged from the battered hallway into the room. Granz laughed. He used Sonido and brushed past Kurotsuchi, stabbing him with a substance as he went by.

"You Shinigami think you're so powerful with your Zanpaktous! Let's see you defeat us without them!"

"What are you going on about?"

"I just severed the connection with yours," he said as he grinned. He gasped as Kurotsuchi laughed.

"You think that's all there is to our power?" He laughed harder.

Rukia watched the two as they prepared for their own battle. She took advantage of the distraction and ran through the broken wall. She ran as fast as she could towards the reiatsu she knew as well as her own; the reiatsu that was now fading.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo!" She found him several kilometers away, nearly passed out, blood was everywhere. "Ichigo!" She yelled desperately. There was so much blood. She fell to her knees, her hands in front of her, fingers splayed out, not sure where to touch him.<p>

"R-Ru-kia…" he managed. He coughed up blood as he tried to sit up. Rukia put her hand on his shoulder, holding him down.

"Shh! Don't speak," she said as she tried to assess his injuries. He was cut up everywhere, stabbed several times in his torso. His hand moved and covered hers, stilling her flitting movements.

"A-Aizen…He...got away," he managed as more blood came out of his mouth.

"It's ok! Shh! Don't worry about that right now," she assured him. She closed her eyes and tried her healing kido on one of the wounds in his chest, she was sure he had punctured a lung, all of that blood… Her green light was dim and at first nothing happened.

She cursed herself and her weakened state. Ichigo closed his eyes.

"No! Stay with me! Stay with me, Ichigo!" She yelled as she willed his wounds to close, used what was left of her strength to heal him. She cursed as her vision blurred by stinging tears.

"S-sor-ry," he whispered as he closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

Rukia sat back and gasped. "No," she whispered. "No!" she said, defiantly. She grabbed his shihakushō and held on. "NO!" She screamed.

"_**Pathetic…"**_


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: If you have not seen it – By Myself has been started. It was originally xXxMiserableLoveFairyxXx's creation that I had adopted. I didn't change a lot in the first chapter, but be sure to check it out. Yeah, I know, shameless plug…**

**I've really loved writing this story. That's a big thing considering I'm such a HitsuRuki fan… I want to thank the one who suggested I write them together I hope you have enjoyed it so far. The ending is near…(finally…)**

**Thank you everyone who has read, alerted, favorited and commented on this! I really appreciate you all!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

Kurotsuchi was looking at his latest experiment, pondering what Granz might have used to get the gelatinous mass to look the way it was. He sat back and smiled. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come to me, Kuchiki Byakuya," he said as he laughed.

* * *

><p>Ichigo awoke to find he was on one of his father's beds in his clinic. He had a new tube coming out of his arm. As he looked around he saw Kisuke, his father, Inoue and Ishida standing as if they were waiting for him to wake up.<p>

"Kurosaki-kun! How do you feel?" Orihime asked.

"Like I'm the rope in a tug-o-war match," he replied as he slowly sat up. Kisuke smiled apologetically and nodded to Isshin.

"I'm glad you're back, son. I need to check on a few things. I'll be back a little later," Isshin said as he glanced at Ishida and Inoue then followed Kisuke out of the room.

Ichigo watched the odd exchange. He gagged as he felt the air rush out of his lungs. Orihime wrapped her arms around him tightly. He could feel the warmth of her tears as they stained his shirt.

He gently pushed her back. "What's wrong?"

"I-I was s-so worried you wouldn't c-come back," she said. Ishida frowned. "Urahara-san had to make something to bring you back."

Ichigo looked at Ishida. "They brought me back? On purpose?"

"Yes. It's a new drug they were working on."

Ichigo frowned. "That explains why I felt odd while I was fighting Aizen."

Inoue gasped and held on tighter. "You were fighting Aizen?" Ishida asked.

"Yeah, although not very well. I guess now I know why."

"It's not fair!" Inoue wailed. "You've already defeated him and he hurt you so much. You shouldn't fight him again! Stay here, where you belong!"

"Inoue…" he started. He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. He felt her clutch him tighter.

"They said it's another dimension, right? What happened to their Ichigo? Why does this have to happen to you? Why?"

"I..don't…"

"It's not your fight!" she cried.

"Inoue," he started again. He pushed her again, forcing her to look at him. "It doesn't matter what dimension Aizen is in, he needs to be defeated."

"Then let the Shinigami there handle it!" Ichigo thought about the others, Byakuya, Toshiro, Kenpachi… He sighed. "It's their dimension, it's their responsibility!"

"It's not that simple…" Ichigo said.

"Why isn't it? You have everything you need here."

Ichigo slowly shook his head. "No," he said softly.

"Is it your powers? I'm sure Urahara-san can find a way to get them back. Maybe I can reject what happened. Would that make you happy?" Tears were falling at a rapid pace.

"Inoue, it's not about my powers. It's about who gave them to me." Inoue stepped back and looked at Ichigo, horrified. He looked at her apologetically. "I can save her there."

"You don't owe her anything," Inoue whispered as she shook her head.

"You're wrong, Inoue. I owe her everything."

"You sound like a love sick puppy," Ishida said after watching the exchange. Ichigo looked at him.

"Maybe so."

"No!" Inoue screamed. "You belong here!"

"Ichigo, I don't know how or why this all happened, but that other dimension is not your place. For some reason they lost their Ichigo, that is how it's supposed to be. Have you thought of the consequences of messing with the time line there? What happens if it has consequences here? What would happen if Aizen figured out how to cross over and rescue himself here? With you being powerless here there's no one left to stop him!" Ishida said as he adjusted his glasses.

"I'm sorry about Kuchiki-san, I really am, but you need to start thinking about what's best for those you've already protected here in this dimension where you belong!"

Silence quickly filled the small exam room. Ichigo looked at his friend and thought about another Ishida, the one who wanted him to leave Rukia behind. He narrowed his eyes.

"Get out," he whispered.

"Ichigo – "

"I said get out!"

"What happens if you save her?" Inoue asked sadly. She had backed up several steps. "You can't bring her here, can you?"

Ichigo eased his scowl as he looked at her. "I don't know what's going to happen, Inoue, but I know I can't leave her."

She nodded sadly. Isshin came back into the room with a forced smile. Ichigo's scowl returned.

"Why did you bring me back here?" He asked.

"We were testing to see if we could if needed," he replied as he removed the IV in his arm.

"Then send me back."

Isshin sighed. "I'm afraid I can't do that. At least, not until the effects of this wears off.

"How long?"

"I'm not sure," he said helplessly. "All of this dimensional travel must make you tired, ne? Why not take advantage and get some rest while the drug is working." He looked at the other two who nodded silently.

Ichigo said nothing. He knew it was pointless to argue, no one here was going to help him return. He lay back down and pretended to close his eyes and rest. He heard the door close and sighed. There was a war going on and here he was, sleeping. Rukia was –

He held his breath.

Rukia.

He racked his brain trying to figure out where she was. He left her with Kenpachi and her brother. He fought Aizen, but his vision started to blur due to the drug on this end. He was cut, he fell. He remembers Rukia screaming his name.

She wasn't safe. His heart started to pound as he remembered, Aizen, the blood, Rukia…

His eyes were heavy, his father must have given him something to sleep. Images of Rukia seemed to fade as darkness overtook him.

Hours later after a dreamless sleep, he awoke in his bed in his room. It was evening time according to the position of the sun. He turned his head as his door opened.

"Byakuya…"

"How devoted are you to my sister?" Dressed in street clothes, Ichigo almost didn't recognize him. Of course, he was in a gigai. His demeanor was the same though.

"What?"

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Yes, totally the same.

"Very," Ichigo said. "I am very devoted to her. I owe her everything."

Byakuya looked at him and frowned. "Your debt has been paid."

"No! It's more than that," he sighed, frustrated. The last thing he thought he would be doing was telling Byakuya he loved his sister. He narrowed his eyes in determination and looked at the noble. "I love her."

"Enough to lose your life here?"

"Here?"

"In this dimension."

"I would die for her in any dimension. I think you know that by now. My actions have proven that many times over," he said seriously.

"Then listen to me and listen carefully because I only have enough time to tell you this once."

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Pathetic…"<strong>_

Ichigo gasped as he took in a breath, Byakuya's words fresh in his mind. He opened his eyes to find he was standing on top of a tower in Los Noches. Blood and bits of bone surrounded him. His sword was dripping, his latest conquest, Stark, dead at his feet.

"_**Welcome back, loser."**_

"Rukia…" He looked around, panic in his eyes. He found her, in the corner slumped over. He immediately ran to her side and looked for injuries. Her eyes opened as he touched her. Her head swiveled so she could look into his eyes.

"Ichigo?" she breathed.

"Yes," he replied. She threw herself into his arms and said something else. It was muffled by how tightly she was holding on to him. He stroked her hair, relishing the feel of her tiny frame in his arms once again.

"I thought…I thought we lost you…" she whispered as she turned her head.

"We?" he asked. Rukia blushed.

"You're hollow…"

"Thought I was dead?"

"_**Idiot…I told you what would happen if you died…"**_

Rukia leaned against the short tower wall an explained. "You fought with Aizen, when I got to you, you weren't breathing. There wasn't anything I could do…" Ichigo could feel the pain in her eyes as she relived those moments when she thought he was dead.

"What happened?"

"I heard a voice behind me, one of the Espada, Nnoitra," she stopped and shivered. "He…he kicked you out of the way, like you were a rag doll. He had this sadistic grin on his face, all teeth. He laughed and said you were dead. He put his hand around my throat and lifted me off the ground and told me how important I was to Aizen. Then he said he didn't care about what Aizen wanted anymore and he…" Rukia stopped and shook her head.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. He was furious with himself, at his father in the other world for making him leave her when she needed him. Rukia swallowed.

"I looked up, trying to prepare for whatever he had in store and I see his arm flying in the opposite direction of where we were lying. And you…your hollow…was there," she looked at him. "You…no, not you…your hollow in his full form was standing there, grinning at Nnoitra. He looked at me and…growled."

Ichigo quickly turned his thoughts inward… "If you hurt her…" but was greeted by silence.

"The next thing I knew they were fighting. Nnoitra was no match for him. As his body fell your hollow looked at me. He picked me up and brought me here. He left to go fight. I don't know how many he killed or what happened much after that. I stayed hidden for as long as I could, but Stark had found me. I thought for sure I was to be killed or brought back to Aizen, but…your hollow…he came back. He came out of nowhere with a cero charged..."

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No! No, he protected me, Ichigo." Ichigo pulled her in and held onto her.

Rukia pressed her small body into his, needing to feel his warmth around her. Needing to feel he was back and alive. She felt lost when he stopped breathing.

There was an explosion in the distance and Ichigo took her hand in his. "We need to start moving."

Rukia looked at him. She got to her feet and wobbled.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked as he helped her get her footing.

"The Hogyoku…it makes me a bit unsteady," she said. She continued to tell him what happened while he took off to fight Aizen to include Granz's revelations on what has been happening to her.

"Any idea on what else they've figured out?"

"No, but considering he was happy, it can't be good for us." She looked at him. "Maybe we can figure it out when we get to the lab."

Ichigo sighed. "We're not going to the lab."

"What?"

"Earlier…While my hollow was protecting you, I was…I was back in the other world. They brought me there while I was fighting Aizen. It's probably why I lost concentration."

Rukia narrowed her eyes. "They can just take you at any time?"

"They can now, yeah."

Rukia didn't like how that sounded at all. She watched at his expression changed. "So we're not going to do the spell?"

"I'm not sure if what they told me will really work."

Rukia's face fell. She didn't realize how much she was hoping this idea, as crazy as it was, would work. Now that was taken away. She quickly looked away, not wanting to show him how much she was relying on that chance. "What changed your mind?"

"Your brother."

"Nii-sama?"

"In the other dimension. He came to my room and told me it had been ordered by Central 46 to destroy this dimension by any means necessary."

Rukia turned back, eyes in shock. "But you would be…" she stopped. "No… That's what the drug was for, to get you out of here before that happened."

"I think they were testing it to make sure."

"Ichigo…" She was at a loss for words. She tried to push the panic and fear she felt back down, but it was hard. Everything as she knew it would be destroyed. She shook her head. Ichigo would be safe. That's all that mattered, Ichigo safe. "The other dimension…The other world…Aizen doesn't exist, right?"

Ichigo stopped. "No," he said slowly.

"Ah," she said as she continued on. "Is Renji alive there?"

Ichigo thought back to Inoue's story of how Renji was rescued and Rukia was left…left to die. He closed his eyes. "Yeah, I guess so. I don't have any powers there so I don't know for sure. It's not like they're lining in gigai's to see me."

Rukia nodded. "And Sado? Is he alive there too?"

"Rukia!" Ichigo stopped as he realized why she was suddenly interested in the other dimension. He put his hands on her shoulders and bent over so they were eye to eye. "Don't even think about it!"

"Think about what?" She asked innocently. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"You know damn well what. Why the sudden interest in the other world?"

"Because if everyone is alive there and Aizen is defeated, what's so wrong with getting rid of this one? Aizen is a huge threat, we've taken a lot of casualties already and if they're alive and safe in that other world…"

"NO!"

"But why not? You said yourself Aizen is defeated and others are alive there – "

"You're not!" he said fiercely as he cut her off. "You're not there!"

"Ichigo…"

"No!"

"Maybe that's how it's supposed to be."

"Rukia! How can you even think like that?"

"No, listen to me…" tears were starting to form in her eyes. She silently cursed and bit her lip to keep them from falling. "Ichigo, don't you see? It'll be better this way. You can't save me here. Even if you killed Aizen and his Espada today, I'm too far gone to be saved. I can't leave this place. I can't go back with you to the living world or Soul Society."

"Rukia…" he didn't want to hear it. No.

"I'm dead either way," she whispered. She gasped as Ichigo pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her.

"No! I can't let you go! I won't let you go!"

She said nothing, only held him. The pain in her heart was too great. She took small comfort in knowing he would be safe. The others would pull him out of here; bring him home. He would live his life as he was meant to. He would go to school, get a job. Maybe have a family. Yes, he would find someone to love and she would be wonderful. She would give him children and he would be a great father. He would watch them grow and guide them as needed. He would be overprotective if he had a daughter, he would be a strong role model if he had a son. He would live and grow old. He would do the things he would never be able to do with her. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore and just let them go.

He couldn't…He wouldn't…Not now, not ever. It might have taken him a while to realize his feelings for her, but now…She was his life and there wasn't anything that would make him leave her. He didn't care about the greater good, he didn't care about anyone except who was in his arms. Why should she be the one to always suffer for him? Why should she always bear the burden of everyone else's mistakes? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. He didn't care about his life. There was no life if she couldn't be a part of it. Everything without her was meaningless. And here she was, so ready to give up her own for his once again. He couldn't believe it.

"Don't you get it? You're supposed to be this old, wise woman of many years but you can be so stupid. You're always calling me stupid and reckless but you…you're twice as reckless as I am. There is no life without you. You have no idea what it's like in that other world."

"Ichigo – "

"No, you listen to me now. There, I have no powers. I can't see or hear spirits. It's so…quiet and empty. Mostly empty. It's like the color has been sucked out of everything. At first, I thought it was because I lost my ability but when I found out what happened to you… That just made it worse. If I have to live without you, I won't like it, but I know that eventually when my human life is over there will be no more restrictions. We can be together. But there… You don't exist at all there. There is nothing to look forward to. No. I want to be selfish just this once. Just this once I want to fight for you, for us."

Rukia was stunned into silence. She gripped him tighter and buried her face in his chest. She didn't want to let go either. Had she been the selfish one? The pain in her heart was great, but once it was over and she was no more, she wouldn't feel anything. He would be alive. He would have to live with this pain. She didn't think she could do it. She wouldn't want to.

After the tears subsided she lifted her head and met his gaze.

"So what do we do?" she asked when she found her voice.

"We fight."


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Well now… That was a ton of reviews! Thank you all so very much! I love hearing your thoughts as you read. **

**Things are going to get a little tricky…I hope I can clear things up enough… And yes, we are at the end. This was supposed to be a one-shot – three chapters at most… lol Maybe I'll do another IchiRuki another time… They were fun to write together… **

* * *

><p>Chapter 15<p>

"Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime cried. She awoke in the middle of the night and knew something was wrong. She knew it was a bad idea to go home when he needed her, but she didn't want to upset him. He was so bent on saving someone who was already dead. Her heart ached for him. She knew it would just take a little longer for him to accept everything that has happened.

Still she had a bad feeling. She looked at her clock and frowned. While the Kurosaki's have been nothing but kind to her, she doubted they would want her knocking on their door at 4am. But there was something wrong. She knew it.

She looked at the window as she debated with herself. She remembered all of the kind things he had done for her, how he saved her brother. She closed her eyes and opened them with new determination. She grabbed her keys and headed towards the clinic.

* * *

><p>"We fight."<p>

Rukia looked at him with doubt in her eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," he said as he lifted her chin. "This is the only way it's gonna work."

"That doesn't answer the question of what happens after," she said as she averted his gaze.

"Rukia, is there any doubt in your heart about me?"

Her eyes snapped back to his. "No."

"Things will work out. Just trust me."

"I do trust you, Ichigo. That doesn't mean I can't worry about you."

Ichigo smiled and kissed her. "Come on, let's find the others and see what's going on."

* * *

><p>"Orihime-chan?" Isshin asked, bleary eyed as he answered the door. "What are you doing here at this hour?"<p>

"I…I'm sorry but I think there's something wrong."

Isshin smiled at the young girl. "Nothing is wrong. Ichigo is sleeping soundly, come morning you'll see everything is fine."

"C..Can I just make sure?" She looked at him nervously. "I know this is weird, but…"

"Come on in and tell me," he said as he opened the door for her. She walked in and wanted to immediately check on Ichigo, but she wasn't sure if he was in his room or in the clinic. Isshin put a pot of water on the stove to make some tea and motioned for her to sit at the table. She didn't want tea, she didn't want to sit, she wanted to make sure he was alright…

Inoue sat and gave him an anxious smile. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, not wanting to be rude.

"Now, what do you think is wrong with my son?" he said as he served her tea and sat across from her.

"I…I had a dream about Kurosaki-kun and when I woke up I had this really bad feeling. I…" she looked at her tea and the tired man sitting across from her. "I'm being silly, aren't I?"

"Would it make you feel better to see him sleep?"

"Yes!" she said as she stood up. Isshin gave her a half smile and led her upstairs to his bedroom. He watched as she opened the door and screamed.

* * *

><p>They slowly made their way back down to the ground level when Rukia started panting.<p>

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked, concerned. He touched her arm.

"I…I don't…" He caught her as she started to fall.

"Rukia?"

"It's just really…"

"Hard to breathe?" A voice said from behind a broken pillar nearby. Ichigo turned his head.

"Aizen!" He yelled and watched as the man emerged. Ichigo shifted Rukia to his left arm as his grip tightened onto Zangetsu.

Rukia looked at Aizen as her legs gave out, her arms slacked and lost their grip. "No!" she said. Ichigo looked at her then back to Aizen.

"What are you doing to her?" He demanded. Aizen smiled.

"I'm not doing anything. The Hogyoku has a mind of its own now that it's back in its host."

"Rukia!"

"I can't…feel, Ichigo…" He looked helplessly at Aizen before narrowing his eyes.

"Get it out of her!" He said as he pointed Zangetsu at him.

"No."

"What?"

"She is its host, its food, if you will. Giving it what it needs to recharge and fully awaken. Aporro placed it back inside of her so he could finish his last experiment."

"That's not going to happen!" Ichigo said as he gripped her tighter. Rukia's head fell backwards as she lost the feeling in her neck. She looked from Aizen to Ichigo, not sure what to do. Not being able to move, she didn't think she could do anything. Not anymore.

"As far as Aporro finishing the experiment, no, he's dead. But that doesn't really matter," he said as he took a step closer.

"Leave her alone!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, she is now the key."

"What?"

"Aporro discovered another dimension." Ichigo froze as a chill went down his spine. "Things are much different in this other dimension, you see. The war is already over. Aporro figured out a way to use the Hogyoku to transfer someone from this dimension, but it comes with a price." He looked at Rukia and smiled. "One I have no problems paying, although it is a tragedy."

An explosion was heard in the distance as a tower, similar to what they were previously standing on, collapsed. Ichigo clutched Rukia tighter and took a step backwards.

"I won't let you hurt her!"

Aizen held his hand out. "It's already too late for that."

"Arrrrrraaah!" Ichigo screamed as his hollow raged inside. "BAN-KAI!" In a whirl of reiatsu, Aizen shielded his eyes and took a step back from all of the flying debris and sand.

"_**LET ME OUT!"**_

Ichigo used shunpo and took off with Rukia cradled in his arms. He wasn't about to fight Aizen and have her get hurt. He reached another tower far enough away from the fighting and gently put Rukia down. He propped her up against a broken wall. Losing control of all of her muscles, her head flopped back like a rag doll. Only her eyes were open.

"_I'm sorry."_ She thought. How she wished there was something she could do for him. She cursed herself in her weakened state and blamed herself for everything that has happened. There were too many "if only's" as she ran through the past several months of their lives in her mind. Too many things to second guess, too many mistakes she had made and it seemed it was too late for her to rectify any of them.

It hurt to breathe, she couldn't move, couldn't speak. All she could do was watch helplessly as the rest of her life was sucked out of her by that rock.

"Ichigo…" she whispered. Her breaths were ragged. She looked at him and saw that he was looking elsewhere, mumbling…something. Was she losing her hearing now too? After what seemed like forever, he turned to her.

"Rukia, hold on, ok? I don't know if I can do this…But there won't be any point if you don't. I know it's a lot to ask, especially now. God, I was so stupid. To think I believed them…and I almost…" he looked at her. Pain and despair were reflected in his eyes. "Trust me, and don't give up! Keep fighting no matter what happens, ok? Promise me! Cause I can't…" He stopped himself before he broke down. His breath hitched, "I can't lose you."

Rukia looked at him, "Ichi-go…"

* * *

><p>"<em>Byakuya…" <em>

"_How devoted are you to my sister?" Dressed in street clothes, Ichigo almost didn't recognize him. Of course, he was in a gigai. His demeanor was the same though._

"_What?"_

"_Do I have to repeat myself?" Yes, totally the same._

"_Very," Ichigo said. "I am very devoted to her. I owe her everything."_

_Byakuya looked at him and frowned. "Your debt has been paid."_

"_No! It's more than that," he sighed, frustrated. The last thing he thought he would be doing was telling Byakuya he loved his sister. He narrowed his eyes in determination and looked at the noble. "I love her."_

"_Enough to lose your life here?"_

"_Here?"_

"_In this dimension."_

"_I would die for her in any dimension. I think you know that by now. My actions have proven that many times over," he said seriously._

"_Then listen to me and listen carefully because I only have enough time to tell you this once. There are people here you cannot trust. They believe the other dimension is a threat and are planning on using your connection to destroy it."_

"_What? No! Urahara-san said he would be able to save Rukia… He said - "_

"_His plan involves using my sister in that other dimension." He said bitterly._

_Ichigo frowned. "You let her die."_

_Byakuya closed his eyes. "It was a regrettable decision. If we did not act the way we did we would have lost Abarai as well. It was also a decision that I will have to live with."_

_Ichigo sat up straighter. "That's why you're telling me this. You want me to save her in the other dimension?"_

"_I believe that dimension is where her true soul lies."_

"_What?"_

"_Rukia has not been reborn in this dimension. According to the 12__th__ division, they are unable to locate it at all. It's as if she does not exist here." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small scroll and handed it to Ichigo. "Study this. I believe it will help."_

_Ichigo opened the scroll and frowned before his eyes widened in shock. "This is…"_

"_Instructions on how to remove the Hogyoku from a soul; I believe Urahara has gone over the fine points on how to put it in someone?"_

"_Y-yes. I was supposed to put it in Rukia…to help her – to save her." Byakuya closed his eyes and shook his head._

"_That thing is a parasite. The reason she is so weak is in relation to how long that thing has been inside of her. It feeds off of her, uses her spirit particles to restore itself. The spell they gave you would speed the process, forcing it to take everything that is left of Rukia and overload."_

"_It would self destruct?"_

"_Yes. The Hogyoku is power beyond imagination."_

"_It would take out the entire dimension. The drug they tested was to make sure they can pull me back…" His face distorted as several emotions ran through him._

_Byakuya looked at him as he digested this new information._

"_Soul Society is concerned with what Aizen has learned there. He has somehow managed to separate the link between soul and Zanpaktou. If he were to know about this dimension and find a way to cross over with that knowledge, things would be - "_

"_Devastating," Ichigo said as he cut him off. "So they want the other dimension destroyed. But what about Rukia?"_

"_The life of one compared to hundreds of thousands?" He raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at him. Ichigo scowled._

"_They're going to sacrifice her," he said slowly._

"_Indeed, however there is more," Byakuya handed him another small scroll. Ichigo opened it and read. A puzzled look danced across his face. "Kurosaki Ichigo, you are the only one who can save her but it will include a sacrifice of your own."_

_Ichigo reread the scroll. "How do I know I can trust this? Urahara, my dad…" He thought about everything that has happened, their insistence of putting the Hogyoku back into Rukia, the spell, the drug to pull him back, how the way his father acted was…off, how his hollow didn't trust any of it. There were too many scenarios, too many lies with no one to really trust. He closed his eyes and felt the darkness, the emptiness in his heart. He opened his eyes and looked at Byakuya. "This will work?"_

"_I don't know."_

"_Her soul…you said you believed it was in the other dimension. If this works, I can save her."_

"_If it does not, you will both be lost."_

"_What about here? What if they try to bring me back?"_

"_I will make it so that you can never return here." Ichigo reread both scrolls, committing them to memory before lifting his head up._

"_Thank you, Byakuya," he said as he realized what the other man was risking by obtaining this information._

"_You can thank me by saving her and living on."_

* * *

><p>Ichigo put one hand on Rukia's shoulder to keep her still as he drew the other back. He closed his eyes briefly and whispered a silent prayer that this would work before plunging his hand deep into Rukia's chest.<p>

Her eyes widened at the realization of what he was doing.

* * *

><p>Inoue screamed waking up the others in the house. Isshin peeked over her shoulder and ran interference before the twins could come and see what was going on.<p>

"Go back to bed, Orihime-chan thought she saw a mouse," he said with a false smile plastered to his face. Karin looked at him, eyebrow raised, Yuzu had a hurt expression. She kept a clean house. Isshin gently pushed the girls back to their room.

Orihime stood, too scared to move, as her worst realization came to life.

Ichigo was in bed, the tail end of a sword protruding from his chest. As Isshin came back to the room, Inoue moved to his side, her hands on her hair pins.

"I need to heal him; I need to bring him back!"

Isshin put his hands over hers and brought them back to her side.

"No, Orihime. He's made his choice. He's gone."

* * *

><p>Ichigo watched as the hole in Rukia's chest closed; the Hogyoku in his hand. He looked at the small rock that caused so much trouble for so many people. He slipped it in his Hakama, under the sash so it would stay in place before turning his attention back to Rukia. He laid her down and put both hands over her chest. He concentrated and let his reiatsu wash over and mingle with hers. He blinked as he realized there wasn't much left.<p>

He refocused and waited for his green healing reiatsu to appear. He concentrated harder, released more of his own reiatsu, the green light surrounding his hands turned blue. He felt her reiatsu get stronger. It was working.

Rukia stared at Ichigo not believing what was happening. She felt his reiatsu cradle her, hold her, mingle and become one with her own. She felt her strength return. Tentatively, she moved her fingers, then her hand and arm. He wasn't just healing her, he was fixing her.

She watched as he concentrated. Amber eyes stared intently at his hands, he released more reiatsu. Blue light burst through his hands, surrounding them both in a blaze. Then it was over.

Ichigo sat back, panting. Rukia took a breath and sat up. She looked at her arms and legs, still not believing. She felt stronger then she had in months. She looked at Ichigo and gawked.

"Ichigo…How…?"

He smiled at her.

"Come on," he said as he stood and held his hand out for her. "We should regroup with the others. I have a feeling this war is about to take a turn for the better." He took out the Hogyoku and held it up to the artificial sun.

Rukia stood and smoothed her white uniform. She unsheathed her Zanpaktou and held it. Feeling its weight, she closed her eyes.

"Mai, Sode no Shirayuki!"

As the white ribbon circled around her, Ichigo couldn't help but feel his heart swell as determination flowed through his veins. He brought up his own Zanpaktou and admired the contrast, the pure white against the darkest black. His smile widened as he saw her looking at him.

"Time to tie up some loose ends," she said.

"Ah."

~FIN~


	16. Epilogue

**AN: Well then… I've gotten a bit of flak because of how I ended the story. Let me explain it a bit. This story was about Ichigo's shift between two dimensions, not defeating Aizen. When he left the other dimension for the final time that ended his travels and the story.**

**Kinda…**

**I am very glad you have enjoyed this story and I have really enjoyed writing an IchiRuki. I actually have another in the works but won't publish until OTWTA is completed. ;)**

**Complete apologies – I REALLY thought I posted this a while ago… **

* * *

><p>Dreamscape<p>

Epilogue

The Garganta opened. With Aizen defeated and in custody he was being led back to Soul Society for trial and punishment.

Rukia stood at the mouth the of opening, hesitating.

"What if I'm not…" She looked at Ichigo, apprehension in her wide eyes. She remembered the pain from the last time she went through one of these things. How she was ripped apart.

"Then I'll be here to pull you back and we'll think of something," Ichigo said as he extended his hand for her to take. She placed her tiny hand in his as she looked at him. She was so proud of him for taking down Aizen. Proud of him for overcoming everything that has been thrown at him since the beginning. She loved him with her very being. If her life ended at this very moment, she would die happy, knowing that he was safe, he would live on.

She held her breath and took a step through the Garganta.

* * *

><p>Music.<p>

Fur Elise was playing on a piano from somewhere below.

Ichigo opened his eyes, slowly sat up and looked around. He was in a huge western style bed. The room was simple; bed, dresser, mirror, a nightstand on either side of the bed. The window next to his side of the bed was open and a soft breeze blew the shear white curtains. They seemed to dance to the classical piece.

Ichigo shook his head. He looked at the pictures on his nightstand. He picked up one of the frames and smiled. In it Rukia was smiling at Ichigo, oblivious of the camera. He traced the picture with his finger. This is what he chose. This is what he wanted above all.

He got out of bed and walked to the mirror and examined himself. No wounds, or recent bruises. No bandages. He had on a simple t-shirt and boxers. He looked behind him to find a pair of jeans on the bed. He put them on and opened the door.

The music was louder as Ichigo followed it down the hall. The hallway opened up to the living room where he found a grand piano sitting in the corner. He was a bit apprehensive as he remembered the last time he did this, Aizen was at the piano.

He held his breath as he rounded the corner and saw her. She stopped playing and looked up.

"You're awake," Rukia said softly.

"Yeah. I'm awake."

As she stood to greet him he saw she was wearing the dress Ishida made for her. The one she was to wear when they went home the first time. Only she decided to stay in Soul Society. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Home. This was his home now. Their home, together. She saw the faraway look in his eyes.

"Ichigo?"

_Her hand was in his as they stepped through the gate. He watched in horror as her body instantly turned white and broke apart. Her reishi slipped through his fingers as it dissipated._

_She was gone._

"_Ru…Rukia! RUKIA! RUUUKIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed. _

He watched as the look on her face changed into one of concern.

"I'm ok. Just trying to shake off that last dream," he said as he smiled at her. He didn't want her to worry about him. She had been through enough.

She moved closer and placed her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

* * *

><p>As the man walked through the barrier, he tried to make out the images in the darkened room.<p>

"You're early. I thought I was on for another week," said a voice from the back. The man touched the side of the wall and made his way back.

"You are. Kurotsuchi-taicho sent me to gather some readings. How are things?"

"Quiet."

"I would imagine so," he said as he looked at the man. He made out the small cot in the back of the room.

The other man looked at him. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"This guy…He defies the Soutaicho, defeats Aizen and this is what he's reduced to. I don't get it, Akon."

"He chose this."

"For what? That Kuchiki woman?"

"It was the only way we could save her."

"You call that living?"

"I think it's amazing what Kurotsuchi –taicho has done, create a world where Kuchiki-san can still exist inside that boy's head."

"It's still weird."

"It's what the humans call devotion."

"This is great while he's human, but what's going to happen when he crosses over?"

"We hope to have a solution by then. But until that time, he'll have a good 80 years with her."

* * *

><p>"Ichigo…" she gently pushed on his chest. "Do you ever feel like you're missing something?"<p>

"No," he said without hesitation. "What could I be missing? I have everything I need right here." She smiled as she looked at him before a frown crossed her features.

"I still don't remember what happened after I took that step into the Garganta."

"Rukia, we went over this."

"I know, I know! I just wish I would remember."

"Kurotsuchi said you would remember on your own. Besides, what is there to tell? We came though, saw everyone and moved here." He didn't want her dwelling on this. She could never know what happened, she could never know the sacrifice he was making or she would end it for his sake.

He pulled her to him. It was hard saying goodbye to his father, his sisters and friends, but ultimately, there was no one he would rather be with than her. Even if it was a dream.

"I love you, Rukia," he said as he looked into her eyes.

"I love you, Ichigo."

"Dinner?"


End file.
